It had been two days since she last heard from Richard Grayson.
Raven Roth had almost entirely put the encounter out of her mind- as much as she prized her ability to deal with unsavory situations, she had a more pressing one to attend to-
finding employment.
She walked the same path she was heading down when the accident struck, hoping fervently that she could make it there without an incident this time.
A few blocks past the corner the man had died, she came to a small store filled with books and stationary. Checking the address with the one in the ad,
she stepped inside, a bell sounding cheerfully with the movement of the door.
"Hello?"
"Just a moment!" she heard a shuffling noise from behind the curtain separating what appeared to be the stock area from the rest of the store, then the
slightly hunched figure of an elderly woman came through, pushing the fabric aside with an arthritis knotted hand.
"How may I help you?"
Either the woman was blind or she thought her purple hair was decoration, because she didn't seem to have any issue with the Meta in her store.
"Oh, um..I'm sorry, there was a listing for a job?"
"Ah, yes, of course, of course! Come back, please, we can talk while I make tea!"
Raven nodded, surprised at the warmth she could feel from the woman, and followed her past the curtain and into a small sitting area with a coffee table
and worn but comfortable looking loveseat and chair. Books lined shelves back here, as well, but these ones looked used and very old.
"I'm just so happy someone came!" The woman continued, motioning for Raven to sit, which she did hesitatingly. "Most people look over my little store,
you're the first to come in! I have a good feeling about you, Ms..."
"Ah, Raven. Raven Roth." It had been a long time since Raven had a conversation with a human that didn't involve hostility, so the genuine kindness that
radiated off this lady took her by surprise, making her ability to speak intelligently somewhat lacking.
"That's a good name." The older woman smiled, and Raven thought to herself, taking herself off guard, that she must have been very pretty when she was
younger. "I can see you're nervous, if you wait just a moment I can get the tea on and we can talk; maybe put you at ease?"
Raven didn't respond, instead just nodding silently, her words failing her. She just looked down at her hands, which she hadn't realized she was wringing,
until a cup of steaming tea was set on the table in front of her. She took it carefully, the warmth calming her fingers and giving them something to do.
"Now, Raven," at this Raven lifted her head and was caught in the other woman's gaze, trapped.
"Y-yes?" She cursed herself for stammering, but noticed that the woman across from her just smiled gently and sipped her own tea before continuing.
"I'm assuming that you've been looking for a job for a long time?"
"Ma'am?"
The woman smiled again, just as gently as before.
"I know what you are- that doesn't matter to me. It's been myself here for a long time- ever since my husband died a little over a year ago. My granddaughter
stops by every once in a while to help, but I've never had an employee here that wasn't related. We don't get a lot of business here either- Normally some
off-beat anarchists or quiet poetry types, sometimes Wiccans if I can order them the books they're looking for. I don't think you being what you are will stand out
much more than the customers here do."
Raven stared at her in disbelief
"Does that mean I can have the job?"
"If you want it, it's yours."
"Thank you!" The words were out of her mouth before she could stop herself. She turned faintly pink, eyes down again, hands turning the cup around and around in
her palms. The old woman laughed, but kindly, like everything else about her, and patted her knee in a grandmotherly fashion.
"Of course, my dear, of course. I just need to get your registration card. Politics, you understand."
A shadow passed over Raven's face, but she nodded and reached for it.
"No, no, not yet. We can finish our tea first- have you eaten? You're so skinny!"
This time Raven was definitely blushing.
"No, ma'am."
"Then we'll order in- a celebration, if you will, for a new hire."
She wanted to object, wanted to tell the woman that she didn't need to spend her money on her, but the rumbling in her stomach beat her to it.
She paused, then, to her own shock, started laughing- it was nervous and quiet, but audible in the silence of the room. The woman, beaming, joined in the laughter.
Raven had never felt so much at home as she did in that small bookshop.
~X~
"Did you get enough to eat?"
"Yes, ma'am. Thank you for everything- Lunch was amazing."
"That restaurant has been my favorite for years, they have the best Greek food in the city."
"And for the job-"
"Don't worry about that, dear. I needed an employee and you needed a job. Besides, this part of town isn't very good- no one will start trouble with you here, will they?"
The old lady winked, and Raven smiled despite herself- If Grayson had said the same thing, he'd be laid out on the ground, but from this woman, it didn't sound like an insult.
"I doubt it, ma'am."
"Now we just need to fill out the papers- I'm going to need that card now, dear."
"Yes, of course."
Raven fished it out of her pocket and handed it over- The card itself was the size of a drivers license, white and blue, and contained a few very valuable pieces of information
for the Meta-Police to use to see the potential dangers of the card holder.
"Oh, my..."
Raven held her breath, hoping this wasn't a deal breaker, praying to every God and Goddess she'd ever learned the name of that this place she could call home didn't fall through.
"What class is this, exactly, dear?"
Raven sighed, knowing that her one chance was over. She'd lost it.
"D-Class, ma'am."
"I thought the classes only went to C?"
"They normally do, ma'am." She decided to continue after the woman stared at her, expecting her to finish her explanation, "The D stands for Demon. There are very few of us
in the world, let alone the country."
"Is this a higher class than C-level? Or is it just nominal?"
"It's a higher class, ma'am."
The woman read the card over, reading the powers out-loud for Raven to hear, as if she didn't know them herself.
"Telekinesis, Empathy, portals, spell casting..."
Raven nodded mutely, staring hard at the floor.
"Can you do anything else?"
"Healing, ma'am. And astral projection."
The woman nodded, then scanned the card into her computer system before taking down the necessary information onto the work form.
"When are you able to start?"
Raven's head shot up, confused and terrified that this was a dream or a cruel joke.
"I'm sorry?"
The woman smiled again, wrinkles creasing up her eyes, making Raven feel as if she'd known her her entire life. As if this woman was her own Grandmother, someone who
would take care of her and love her for who she was.
"I said, when can you start? I don't believe for one moment that you're only what this card says you are. It's like saying I'm only what my license says. I'm more than 5'3"
with brown eyes. I'm Alice. And you're Raven, not D-Class Meta. Don't forget that." The woman had somehow cupped her hand against Raven's cheek without her noticing,
and she was about to say something when she noticed that a tear had made its way down her face. The shock of that revelation caused a small army of them to trail down
after it, and before she knew it, she was in the embrace of the older woman, soaking her shirt and having her hair stroked lovingly.
A few books fell off the shelves, but in the scheme of things, Raven would take a slight slip up if it meant someone caring for her after all these years.
~X~
After apologizing for close to five minutes, Alice finally managed to get Raven to go home, with the promise that she'd be starting in two days. Her first paycheck would be one
week after that- with that knowledge she walked down the increasingly dirty sidewalks, their grunge meaning that she was getting closer to her neighborhood. A week and two
days. That meant that she could give her landlord the first check and hopefully not get evicted. Food would have to wait until after that, and for once Raven found herself thanking
her heritage. If she'd been anything other than a Demon, she'd be near death from lack of food, but because of it she could funnel almost all the money she'd otherwise be spending
on sustenance to bills and rent.
Finally making her way up to her fifth floor walk up, she was about to put her key in the lock when she sensed that someone was in her apartment. She froze, concentrating briefly on
the aura, then growled in annoyance before opening the door which was no longer locked.
"Welcome home."
"You just break into people's homes, now?"
"We needed to talk."
"Doesn't give you the right to barge in here when I'm not home, Dick."
This time, Richard Grayson wasn't sure if she was calling him a dick, but decided that it wasn't really important. She could call him Susan, as long as she listened.
"It's getting worse out there."
"It's always getting worse. You'd think they'd have hit rock bottom by now."
"Ms. Roth, this is serious. I need your help."
"I just got a job. I'm not gallivanting around the city, putting my name out there and getting arrested again. I need this job, Grayson."
"Do you really think I meant to do this out in the open? I deserve more credit than that."
"Because your 'mentor' trained you better than that?"
He didn't miss the sarcasm in that, but shrugged non-noncommittally instead of retorting. He didn't have time for banter right now.
"I have another person interested. We wouldn't be alone."
"By 'interested' do you mean 'harassed'?"
"Whichever works."
Raven knew that the reason Grayson annoyed her so much was because they had similar qualities. That didn't, however, mean that she was okay with him annoying her.
"Look, I'm not going to say it again. Leave me alone."
"Not gonna happen, Raven."
She glared at him, but sighed soon after, her posture turning to that of someone who accepted their fate.
"Fine. Tell me about this 'team'."