Chapter: 14
"I thought Alfred was picking me up?" Livia stated skeptically, hoisting the strap of her dance bag higher up onto her shoulder, as she approached Barbara Gordan, who was leaning against a parked car outside her dance studio. It wasn't particularly odd, only in that it was a sudden change of plans. That evening was the Thanksgiving potluck on the Watchtower, and though it took Darren some time to realize he actually needed to confirm with Livia that she would be his plus one, everything worked out regardless. The plan was arranged so that Livia could get ready at the Manor so that everyone was in one place where the Zeta tubes were. Less travel time was ideal, and it allowed her father some alone time with Petey. Livia was going to that potluck and if her luck held out so was Constantine.
Livia had to admit it was probably a stretch that the magician wouldn't suspect anything, they—she and Tim—were relying on Raven as their ace up their sleeve. Raven's surprise involvement would hopefully even the playing field so to speak, especially as Livia and Raven were connected in some complex way through their family trees. It was a bizarre realization, that Livia would even have relatives at all untouched by the curse but the Roths, Raven's family, appeared to have escaped Klarion's curse. Though from what Tim said, Raven's family stumbled into another demonic issue of their own. He didn't reveal much of that part of Raven's life, out of respect that it was her story to tell, but Livia was curious. Raven was technically family, even if only through marriage…she wanted to know this mysterious girl. Perhaps they could connect over the demonic influences that plagued their lives or perhaps over the fact that they had powers they couldn't know or possibly fully control.
Another key piece of this potluck mission was the fact that Constantine didn't want to draw attention to himself or whatever he was doing—or rather wanted to do—with Darren's blood, by causing a scene. If things went smoothly, no one would be the wiser and Livia would have her necklace back…if things didn't, well, Livia would surely make a very interesting first impression with the members of the Justice League. It wouldn't be ideal, but it would also probably be Livia's only interaction with the Justice League at all. Livia would get her necklace back one way or another and without blackmail. On that matter of discretion, Tim wanted to tell Zatanna and Batman what Constantine had asked of Livia, but she managed to convince him to hold off, for her sake. At least until she got her necklace back. Or perhaps not ever…maybe if things went well Tim wouldn't push the subject, Livia didn't want Zatanna to know she'd been taking lessons with Constantine over the other homo-magi magician. Nor did Livia want to be on the receiving end of Batman's glare or lecture.
The magic lessons had all but stopped. Perhaps Constantine sensed Livia's budding resentment or knew not to test her new powers—not that she would necessarily use them against Constantine; Livia didn't even really know how to access the merged powers she supposedly gained from the ritual—or maybe he'd only humored Livia with lessons as means to gain access to Darren. The mere thought made Livia's skin crawl, with anger or disgust she didn't know…but all the same, she couldn't help but feel deep, deep down that Constantine's intentions weren't malicious. He'd have to be desperate to use magic so complex that it required an Anchor to stabilize the framework of the spell or ritual…and even more so to use Livia's request to get access to that Anchor. Perhaps the lessons were a misdirection, used to gain Livia's trust. Maybe it had all been a throwaway performance, a test to see if he really could use a mere necklace against Livia as a means to gain access to Darren as an Anchor, and Livia fell for it easily. Shame bubbled to the surface; Livia couldn't help it. Was it childish to want a necklace back so desperately that she would go behind her boyfriend's back? She'd been primed to do it…if Tim hadn't interfered…then who knew where she'd be and what Constantine would have done. Livia couldn't know…at least not clearly. Scrying didn't work that way and was certainly not accurate to the point where most witches, magicians, and magic users didn't bother. But even so, Livia wished she'd had more foresight…and as she beheld Barbara she wondered if she should be wishing for such foresight now,
"Alfred's in the middle of making cookies with Mikey, so I offered to come and pick you up," Barbara replied, nodding her head toward the car as she pushed off walking around to the driver's side,
"And why am I sensing there's some kind of ulterior motive here?" Livia questioned, side-eyeing the red-haired woman as she slid into the passenger seat,
"Who am I to deny Alfred the chance to spend time with his great-grandson," Barbara mused, as she started the car and pulled out into the bustling streets of Gotham City, "And am I not allowed to pick up my soon-to-be ward's girlfriend for a casual potluck dinner on a giant satellite in space?"
"Is Darren really a ward and not an adopted son?" Livia groused as a retort glancing out the window at the city rolling by, a slight smirk playing on her lips,
"That's…a bit up in the air right now," Barbara sighed, pursing her lips, "Dick has custody of Darren as in Darren is Dick's ward…and while we'd love to make it official with an adoption, we're already in that process with Mike, which is a bit more on the front burner since we don't have custody of Mike in the same way we do Darren. So, officially and I guess legally Darren is Dick's ward and my soon-to-be ward,"
"Does Darren know this?" Livia questioned, interest peaking, "That you are considering adopting him?"
"Well…no, not yet…we don't know how long this adoption process with Mikey will take, and we don't want to have him waiting on this to finish. We also, well, we don't know how he'll react. He was as close to his mother for as long as he could be…and well, we fear we'd be erasing that, or he'd feel that we'd be trying to replace that,"
"I think you should tell him, or at least bring it up. Trust me, I think it's needed. Darren may surprise you," Livia mused, keeping her gaze out the window,
"It does always seem as if you know him best," Barbara stated seemingly in agreement. Livia threw the redhead a suspicious narrow-eyed stare. This seemed to be gearing into a set-up of some kind, and Livia didn't like the feeling of being goaded into whatever trap Barbara was trying to lay. Though Livia equally knew that if Barbara were deliberately trying to deceive Livia in some way, she'd be less obvious about it…which just put Livia even more on edge,
"What's this really about?" Livia asked, "Seriously. Why did you pick me up, what do you want?"
"There's no need to say it like that," Barbara huffed, "I really did pick you up because Alfred was spending time with Mikey, I just thought that while you were here…I'd ask you something, about Darren—,"
"—I am not going to gossip about my boyfriend to his almost guardian slash adoptive parent," Livia scoffed, stifling a grin, shifting to rest her elbow against the side door resting her head on her hand to watch Gotham as it passed by. Dick and Barbara really were desperate to try and corner her for answers; perhaps it wasn't laughable or humorous as they really did care about Darren, but Livia couldn't help it at the ridiculousness of it all,
"I'm not trying to make you—," whatever else Barbara said faded to mumbling, indecipherable static as the grin on Livia's face vanished at the sight of a familiar building. The plain simple building had been all but burned into Livia's memory, the doorway still bedecked with yellow and black police tape.
Livia's hand fell away from her face as she shifted in her seat, almost twisting to watch the building fade away through the rear windshield of the car as Barbara guided them along the city's roads, switching lanes in preparation to turn onto their next exit. The details of the murder were fresh in Livia's mind.
The victim had been working a shift alone for the evening and had stayed late to fix a broken piece of jewelry, it happened sometime after closing time and before the opening shift. The timeframe was significantly uncertain due to the lack of security footage and the state of the body. The owner of the shop realized something was wrong when they arrived in the morning to find the doors still unlocked and the lights still on. The store was immaculate, and the money was still in the register. There were no signs of a struggle, nothing was broken or missing, and the jewelry had been untouched as had the items in the back of the store. There had been no alarms activated, someone had come in, committed the murder, and left…not caring for any of the valuable items that were accessible once the victim had been killed. It had been a targeted strike and Livia just couldn't put together why…why that store, why that salesperson? There was no indication that this murder had anything to do with her, or that the person who was killed performed her cartilage piercing or sold her the supplies for it. And yet…it felt personal…it felt too familiar…too intentionally vague to merely be a coincidence. But that was the problem, there was no way to know one way or another.
There was nothing visual to help with the issue of Livia's memoryless trapezing through Gotham to get that piercing from that store, no face captured in the news stories regarding the murder to jolt Livia's memory. Nothing that would create certainty around the situation of the murder. The cameras picked up nothing, the film was a corrupted staticky mess, and no amount of finagling or retrieval maneuvers could restore the data from those hours. The body was another story altogether and haunted Livia's dreams even without images to arouse such recollection. It was the description that caused such nightly reimagining to flourish. The victim was found on the floor a blackened, shriveled husk. The time of death was undetermined as the state of the body interfered with creating an accurate timeframe. There were no images to be found of the body, no matter how hard Livia had searched, only a verbal description was provided. The medical examiner had proposed some form of spontaneous combustion or high-temperature fire, as that manner of death fit the description and visual of the corpse…but there was no evidence of damage from the fire nor was their ash anywhere on or near the body, no accelerants or chemicals used for most arson cases either. The death, according to the autopsy report, was caused by the putrefaction of the victim's body internally and externally. In short, the victim had decayed and degraded from the inside out, instantaneously.
Was that not what Livia's power did? Was that not Livia's cataclysmic power to cause destruction of all matter with a mere thought, a mere touch? She'd seen what that ability could do to another human being and wasn't that wave of blackened sheen the cause of decay and rot which damaged and destroyed what Livia willed her power to engulf? That corpse was the description of her power…but the only relief Livia held in reading about what happened to that innocent person was that Livia's cataclysmic ability destroyed matter, broke it down, to the point where it barely existed anymore. It turned flesh and bone and blood to blackened dust. There were no bodies left behind…so what did this all mean? How was what killed this victim so similar yet different from Livia's own abilities, how did she fit into all of this if at all…and what did it mean if this murder had nothing to do with Livia at all…if there was someone—something—able to work such devastating havoc on the human body—,
"Livy?" Barbara's voice jarred Livia out of her thoughts as she jumped and shook herself, looking over at Barbara's concerned green eyes. The alarm in Babs's gaze vanished as she reasserted her stare at the road ahead, but Livia knew the distraction was marked…tucked away for later thought. Taming the frustrated sigh blooming in her chest Livia instead turned to damage control,
"Sorry, you lost me there. Thought I saw someone I knew,"
"Right because every teenager would be so eager for someone they know to see them sweaty with after-dance bun-hair and a pink leotard on," Barbara deadpanned,
"You were saying?" Livia muttered ignoring the disbelieving dig as she reached up to self-consciously touch her now lopsided ballet bun with an embarrassed frown, her dance buns were usually unmovable,
"I don't want you to talk behind Darren's back, I just want to know," Barbara answered firmly,
"To know what?" Livia wondered as she undid the remains of the bun and flipped her head forward gathering her warped hair into a newer, more stylish messy non-ballerina bun,
"How serious is the issue Darren has with PE,"
"You're asking about that?" Livia squeaked, surprised, jerking her head up and hitting it jarringly on the dashboard, "Ow, shit." Finishing off the bun, Livia carefully extracted herself from the undercarriage of the dashboard and leveled her gaze at Barbara, who was steadily ignoring Livia's intense stare, looking straight out the windshield worrying her lip,
"We tried talking with Darren last night," Barbara stated carefully,
"I'm sure that ended well," Livia murmured. Not all of Darren's issues with GA were known to Livia, but she did know he didn't want to let Dick or Barbara down…that was why the revelation of his schoolwork situation was so extreme to him. It wasn't what he wanted, nor how he wanted that information to be given and now he feels more out of control at and within GA than initially,
"It didn't," Barbara stated flatly, "but he reacted alarmingly when we brought up PE, and me being me kept myself up all night worrying that—,"
"Oh God no, it's not that serious," Livia interrupted, skipping Barbara's long-winded explanation and went straight for the mind reading, "It's just that Darren and the PE teacher are very stubborn,"
"And they're knocking heads?" Barbara questioned,
"I guess. Darren knows not to show off, but the teacher sees it as being lazy,"
"I bet Darren hates that,"
"Hence the issues," Livia stated lightly, it wasn't a full explanation and Livia was thankful Barbara didn't ask for more details. In truth, it was only the surface level of the issues Darren had with PE and GA, but she fed enough that Barbara felt satisfied.
Livia let out a breath of relief as they turned onto the drive leading up to Wayne Manor.
Darren couldn't tell if it was nerves or hunger he felt as he stepped through the Zeta beam platform and onto the Watchtower. Voices echoed around; scattered conversations picked up from every corner of the main area as heroes of all ages, gender, and species gathered around in civies. A heavenly aroma of various Thanksgiving foods wafted through the air, and though his stomach rumbled, Darren couldn't help but consider the last time he'd been in the space station which left a bad taste in his mouth. Nerves and hunger…the two worst things to have in any given situation. He'd been set on sitting the potluck out, knowing full well he wasn't exactly welcome among the heroes and especially after the conversation he'd had with Dick and Barbara the evening before, but Tim reminded Darren that Livia had yet to see the Watchtower. Making Darren think back to the wonder and delight he'd experienced upon watching the earth glide by from the expansive window display on the station, and he knew he couldn't deprive her of that experience—in addition Livia's love for architecture, the space station would ignite that passion brilliantly. So, Darren invited her to the event perhaps to show to the others that his differences and background had not stopped Livia from loving him or maybe for comfort…more likely for both. Darren didn't know how this night would turn out…and from experience, it probably wouldn't go any better than last time so the relief of having Livia by his side certainly outweighed the dread Darren felt,
"Whoa…that's weird," Livia huffed, blinking as she stumbled off the platform, a hand clutching Darren's shoulder for balance. Darren couldn't help the small smile of adoration that flooded his face as Livia's expression changed from one of disgruntled discomfort to wonder,
"Whoa…," was all she could say as she took in the Watchtower in all its glory, "…This is almost as breathtaking as you in a collared shirt for once," Livia stated teasingly, smirking at Darren as she tugged at the shirt he was wearing,
"Please, I wore a suit to the dance and tuxes to all those annoying galas,"
"And just think about how gorgeous you'll look in another for my performance next month," Livia stated, raising her eyebrows expectantly, as she rested her elbow on his shoulder. Darren suppressed the grin that struggled to form, though the look on Livia's face told him she saw it regardless,
"Dick and I got tickets, I promise, we'll be there,"
"That's what I love to hear," Livia chuckled lightly, pressing a light kiss to Darren's cheek. Without meaning to Darren glanced around, eyeing the other heroes as if expecting their judgment, their disconcerted stares at his ease and relative pleasure. Being around Livia brought it out in Darren, he wasn't sure why or how, but she pulled Darren free of the cold protective shell he carried with him on any given occasion while being in this situation—with so many people who saw him only as a Talon and an assassin—forced him to retreat within the familiar guarded exterior. A paradox Darren wasn't sure how to reconcile.
If Livia noticed Darren's uncertainty and wandering gaze—scoping, seeking out potential threats even when surrounded by friends of the Bats, people who would not harm anyone—she didn't show it. Instead, she was pulled aside by Tim, who had appeared through the Zeta tube with a pie tin in his hands—which he passed on rather haphazardly to Darren—before muttering something along the lines of,
"Now or never—," in Livia's ear and began pulling her off into the crowd by the arm,
"I'll find you in a bit!" Livia called back to Darren, "Just…um…meeting people!" Darren didn't exactly feel as annoyed about that as he felt about being thrown the pie tin, he was more likely to eat the whole thing than put it on the dessert table near the back of the room for the festivities. Stephanie watched Tim vanish into the throng of people with Livia, a disgruntled frown on her face before she brightened up, waving enthusiastically,
"Courtney! Kara!" Steph called, running off into the crowd once more. Darren watched her go, feeling a twinge of rejection before turning to his left opening his mouth to say something to Damian who came through along with Tim, Stephanie, Bruce, and Dick moments after Livia and Darren stepped through the Zeta tube—it was Livia's first time, so they'd gone through first together—only to find empty air. Damian was nowhere in sight. Closing his mouth so hard he heard his teeth clack Darren glanced back over to his right, expecting to see Dick and Bruce still there only to find emptiness there as well. Darren glanced into the crowds of people, spotting Dick speaking enthusiastically to a bright green-eyed, red-haired man while Bruce was speaking with a black-haired man with clear blue eyes that looked suspiciously like the reporter from his custody hearing.
The feeling of abandonment washed over as Darren stood there, holding the cooling pie tin, alone. The feeling of peace and strangely excitement of showing Livia a place like the Watchtower—regardless of Darren's treatment by the other heroes, the space station was an amazing piece of engineering and architecture—shifted suddenly to sullen discontent and shallow paranoia. The twist in Darren's gut had him moving, weaving through the crowd toward the back of the room eager to put the pie down and disappear—it's what he was good at, his brother said as much not too long ago. He shouldn't have come, he knew what would happen; the others would fall into old patterns, see old friends and flock to them leaving Darren the odd one out. Hell, Darren hadn't even spoken to any of the League members the last time before he ran off the space station…which in part had been his own fault…but it made Darren wonder, did any of the Bats really want Darren to know the Justice League members? Livia had made the point that all the training they were putting Darren through, in learning the skills that each of the Bats had honed for years in the matter of a few months, was in preparation to join the various outreach teams associated with the Justice League. Darren himself thought it wasn't possible and had scoffed at the idea…though perhaps a small part of him had hoped it to be true. Did they bring him along out of pity? Or as a show-dog to say 'see, we can train an assassin not to kill! He can be people!' Darren placed the pie tin down alongside the other desserts rather harshly, gritting his teeth as he tried to shake those thoughts from his mind, hating the insatiable itch that rushed through him at the panicked realization that Darren didn't know the true motivation behind his involvement with the Justice League social events…or in general…or why, so randomly and all of a sudden, every negative possibility suddenly flooded his mind, his attitude, his mentality. It was like whiplash,
"Darren!" a jarringly loud and jovial voice bellowed, a familiar voice. Darren knew that voice and shifted to sidestep the wrapping arms of Oliver Queen, spinning—nearly tripping over his feet in a moment of gracelessness—to face his 'attacker' with a scowl, a finger raised between them as if to tell the billionaire vigilante off, "Great to see you too!" Oliver chuckled, raising his hands as if to say, 'message received,'
"Oh Ollie, do not torture the poor boy," Dinah said, a slight smirk on her face and a knowing look in her eyes as if she could tell that Darren had been seconds away from bolting,
"I'm merely trying to ease him out of his 'no touchy' shtick," Darren's scowl merely deepened as he took a minuscule step away from Oliver his shoulders unconsciously tense. Oliver Queen, of the League members known to Darren—i.e., the ones he'd bothered to learn about via their files on the Batcomputer—was the most confounding. A man lost at sea, stranded on a death trap of an island who fought his way back home, forged into the Green Arrow by strife, torture, and survivalism…somehow behaved like an overgrown child? With mischievous grins and ridiculous jokes? Darren didn't understand how Oliver could have endured years of isolation and constant struggle in his journey back to civilization and bounced back to…this?
Though Darren could equally see the edge, the man still balancing on that thin razor-sharp knife edge of pain, fury, grief, and indifference. A shroud of darkness. It was there—gleams…flashes…shadows—in his eyes, his stance, the frown that ever so rarely stretched across his face. It was there…and yet hardly ever was it known; it was as if Oliver's identity was separate to that of his internal turmoil no matter how persistent that unrest bubbled under the surface. Darren didn't understand Oliver Queen, and couldn't trust the man Oliver presented himself to be as the reality. It didn't make sense…Darren couldn't comprehend such a deception, such a fracture or deviance from what Darren could see within Oliver as well as within himself. Perhaps he merely didn't like seeing a reflection of his own struggles with darkness and shadows within another person…or maybe rather, how well someone with a divergent yet similar background to Darren could flourish even after such struggle. Either way…Oliver made Darren uneasy.
Oliver, on the other hand, went out of his way to exude his exuberant behavior and self whenever near Darren. Another aspect that set Darren on guard, especially as Oliver had every reason to hate Darren…for his father, for what Deathstroke has done in the past. And unfortunately, their interaction occurred more often than might be expected. Darren's sessions with Dinah were at the end of her workday and Oliver was often there to take her out on a date or walk home with her—or rather take the Zeta tube home with her—or something of the sort. Oliver had even invited Darren and Dick out to an early dinner one time…which Dick of course accepted without a second thought. The meal hadn't been unpleasant and everyone certainly chalked Darren's sullen attitude to the therapy session. But Darren's scowl and meager appetite were symptoms of the unattainable reconciliation of Oliver Queen. Darren couldn't get a read on the man, and that unnerved him. Darren wanted to ask Dick if he had trouble reading Oliver…but ultimately considered it unnecessary; if only Darren knew how often he'd end up actually interacting with Oliver Queen,
"I highly doubt lunging at him from behind is helpful in that regard," Dinah scolded lightly, though her tone was playful. Darren's scowl deepened, he did not appreciate the playfulness, though he forced the look from his face when Dinah turned to face him. Perhaps Oliver frustrated him, but he couldn't be irritated at Dinah, "Can I at least get a hug?" Darren merely nodded, knowing how much it would frustrate Oliver. It was a kind of game or competition or bet the couple had going on…and while it was odd being on the outside looking in on such an ongoing event, Darren did not care, especially with the triumphant smirk Dinah threw Oliver's way as she pulled Darren into a light embrace,
"Oh well that's just bogus," Oliver smarted, in mock irritation as he turned away his attention taken up by the dessert table. Darren allowed himself to relax marginally. While he did not hug Dinah often, it was…nice…comforting in a sense…and familiar, though Darren could not determine why. Though this time Darren stiffened, pulling back to look down at Dinah with confusion on his face, at the fast-paced and rhythmic sound that beat in rapid tandem with Dinah's own heartbeat,
"Wha—?" Darren started, though stopped at the warning look in Dinah's eyes and at the realization that suddenly dawned, "You're…pregnant?" Darren managed to whisper, knowing how many prying ears there might be and how Dinah might not want everyone to know so soon. Dinah merely nodded, lips pressed together as she attempted not to grin—most likely finding his expression hilarious—,
"Yes," she replied simply,
"Does Oliver know?" Darren questioned, pulling back completely his arms falling to his sides as he tried not to stare at Dinah's still very un-pregnant looking stomach,
"Wouldn't know if it I threw the pregnancy test at his face," Dinah replied, this time a grin fully forming, "Though I was wondering if you'd ever realize,"
"Sorry, but first of all gross. Second, it's not like I spend all my time listening to people's heartbeats. Certainly not during therapy,"
"Oh, lighten up. I was teasing,"
"Does anyone know?"
"A few people. And I plan on telling Ollie tonight…just wanted to wait until I was closer to the second trimester," Dinah stared at Darren as if expecting or waiting for something,
"Oh…um…congratulations I guess?" Dinah's eye roll was affectionate though turned into a playful scowl as Darren continued in the same breath, "Is this why you've been eating all my cookies during our sessions?"
"Your cookies? Who do you think is making them!" Darren grinned along with Dinah though the grin disappeared as she glanced over his shoulder before putting a hand on his arm a semblance of a warning in her stare as she said, "I'm going to go mingle. You should do the same Darren. Meet people. Talk to people. Get out there. These are co-workers, friends, and essentially family to the Bats. This is not like last time." With a gentle squeeze, Dinah took Oliver by the hand and they threaded through the crowd of people, once more leaving Darren alone.
Darren knew he should take Dinah's suggestion to heart, he knew he should try and talk with other people…it was normal…it was, it should be simple. But he couldn't…Darren just couldn't do it. He couldn't move, he didn't know who to approach, some of the people there he didn't know or recognize. Darren didn't know where to start, so he stood there…staring dumbly into the crowd of people as if willing something to happen, trying to will himself to move. To mingle. But instead, Darren just felt trapped. Locked in place. It felt as if there were eyes on him, as if the walls were closing in, the crowd too large and oppressive…and even if Darren was on a giant space station, it felt too small. The walls too close. The air to stale…used…like Blackout. A cold unsettling dread pricked down the back of his neck, and across his shoulder blades…his breathing becoming shallower, harsher…panicked. No, no no no nononononono Darren hissed at himself. No, he could not lose it. Not now. Not here. Darren sucked down a deep breath, turning to face the dessert table to hide his mounting distress,
"Calm, calm, calm calmcalmcalm I need to be calm," Darren whispered to himself, like a prayer. But that only made things worse, the world seemed to waver, twisting, and rebuilding itself into the Labyrinth. Harsh white lights, marble walls, Owls leering down at him…watching…waiting. Darren needed a release; he needed an out…Darren needed to leave…but before he could bolt a hand caught his shoulder. Darren whirled out of their grasp, whipping around to face his assailant only to blink warily at the tall dark-haired, blue-eyed, and blonde-haired, blue-eyed strangers that stood before him,
"Sheesh dude, you're jumpy," the guy said, his raised hand dropping to his side as he tilted his head perhaps sizing Darren up. He wore simple jeans and a black t-shirt with a red S-shaped symbol on its center,
"He's a Bat. They're all jumpy," the girl stated, rolling her eyes. She wore casual jeans as well but her top reminded Darren of Wonder Woman's uniform, and the circlets that encased her wrists completed the similarity,
"I…uh…what?" Darren stammered. The sudden appearance of the teenage strangers pulled him from his previous panic and into an almost dazed funk…though they also made him wary. He didn't know what they wanted,
"I'm Cassie, this is Kon," the girl stated, nodding at her taller friend,
"You're the Meta working in Gotham, the one the Bats took in right?" Kon questioned, his stare narrowed as if confused by something…the teen's gaze felt strangely familiar. The hair on the back of Darren's neck stood on end, the irritating feeling sparked a faint memory though Darren pushed that away trying in vain to focus on what the two were saying,
"Meta…what? I'm a Talon," Cassie and Kon shared a look,
"Are you strong?" Kon asked simply,
"Um…yeah. I guess," Darren answered carefully, "Why?"
Darren's question was met with a pair of matching mischievous grins.
A/N: Hope you liked this chapter!
Honestly had so much fun writing it! Though a little shorter than my usual chapters, I hope you guys don't mind.
I wanted a section for Livia to kind of explain what was going on a bit more with the mysterious murder and why it's so significant to her. I also needed a segue into the Potluck lol.
The mystery murder is a two-pronged issue for Livia, in that it's a place she'd visited while unaware AND the method of killing is similar to her abilities. The fact that she doesn't remember how she got the piercing also just adds to the question of whether or not she is the culprit the police...and probably the BATS are looking for. A lot of pressure on her for sure in that scenario. There's also the issue of reclaiming her necklace and the "loss" of her lessons with Constantine. Is that sustainable now that she's realizing she may not actually be in control of herself?
Darren's section was really fun to write. Mainly because I got to introduce Oliver Queen into the mix. I, personally, in real life also have a hard time characterizing Oliver Queen. I knew him initially from the Justice League Animated Series where he'd ziplined into the battle humming his own show's theme song and then Arrow came out and we had this dark gritty tortured character played by Stephen Amell; so I felt a combination of the two would really throw Darren for a loop. And all the while, Oliver is trying to "help" Darren because he recognizes himself in Darren just as Darren sees himself in Oliver but just cannot comprehend that lightness about Oliver. I figured throwing in the pregnancy was okay because Canary is kind of removed-ish from the plot (I am personally not always a fan of a pregnancy storyline...that's why they aren't always part of my stories). I also just wanted a funny Darren reaction to it, because he cares about Dinah but is kind of just whatever and weirded out by the core concept of pregnancy. And finally, I am so happy I decided to include Cassie and Connor/Kon! Their versions of the characters here was really fun to write, and you'll see that in the next chapter!
Honorable mentions the potluck: Wally West, Courtney Whitmore, Kara Kent, and Clark Kent (again, he's been in earlier parts of his series).
Overall, I hope you liked this chapter! As always PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW!