"It was the best of times, it was the worst of times,

it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness,

it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity,

it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness,

it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair,

we had everything before us, we had nothing before us,

we were all going direct to Heaven, we were all going direct the other way"

-Charles Dickens, A tale of two cities

Chapter 2:

When the levee breaks

"Hey, why the long face? Is everything alright?" Artemis asked as I walked into the apartment

"Yeah, everything's fine. Just had a chat with Isaac and he gave me a lot to think about. Are you and Miguel ready to head out?" I asked eager to change the subject. Artemis just gave me a look that said she knew what I was doing and decided to allow it.

"Yeah, we're ready. The only thing worth mentioning is that Miguel is running low on insulin. He has enough for another few days but then you'll have to get more." Artemis replied

"Ok, thanks for letting me know. I'll pick some up tomorrow." I said as I made my way back to the vcr to pull out more cash. I had over a grand left in there. I pulled out three-hundred to spend at the carnival. Miguel's insulin would only cost two-hundred for a month's supply and I had already gone grocery shopping and paid all of this month's bills so I felt comfortable splurging a little. I gave half to Artemis for her to spend on herself and Miguel while keeping the other half for myself and Zatanna.

After that I went to my room and took off the hoodie I was wearing, then rolled up the right leg of my pants so I could put on an ankle holster.. I gave it a tug to make sure it was secured properly before I slid my gun into it. Then I simply rolled down my pant leg and I was good to go.

"Alright, I think that's everything. Let's go have some fun!" I exclaimed. I could worry about everything else later, right now I just wanted to have a fun day at a carnival with my beautiful girlfriend.

/

Everyone in the congregation was happy when the Priest ended mass earlier than he usually did. I suspect he only did it because he knew that most of us were too distracted thinking about the carnival to properly pay attention to whatever it was he was saying. Or maybe that was just me.

Artemis was initially confused when we sat near the back and didn't make any attempt to sit with Zatanna and her mother. She understood once I informed her that I didn't want to approach them during mass just in case Mr. Zatara's schedule had changed and he was actually here. Thankfully that wasn't the case and we were now outside the church and walking towards where Zatanna and her mother were standing. Zatanna didn't seem content with simply waiting for us to approach and started running towards me once we were close.

"Sam! I'm so happy you came!" Zatanna yelled as she took a running leap towards me so she could hug me. I, being the wonderful boyfriend that I am, caught her in midair and proceeded to spin her around as I returned the hug.

"I told you I would, didn't I?" I said as I stopped spinning her and we came to a complete stop while still hugging each other, "What? Didn't you believe me? How terrible! My own girlfriend thinks I'm a liar!"

"Oh hush, you! That's not it at all," Zatanna said as she lightly slapped my arm and laughed, "I believed you, I promised I did! I just thought that you might have had to work last minute. I know your financial situation isn't the best, and since it's the start of the month and bills are due I just figured…" Her words began to trail off. I suspect she was trying to think of a way to convey her thoughts without running the risk of offending me.

She didn't have anything to worry about. I knew what she was trying to say, and I understood where she was coming from. Not that I would ever get mad at her simply for expressing her thoughts.

"Don't worry, I know what you mean. I knew that was a risk, so I spent the past week working extra hard to prevent that from happening. I even have enough to splurge and treat my beautiful girlfriend to a proper date," I whispered into her ear before taking a step back and breaking the hug while smiling at her, "So the real question is, what do you want to do first?"

"You don't have to waste your money on me! I'd be happy just walking around and spending time with you." Zatanna said as she frowned at me.

"It's not a waste if that's what I want to spend my money on. Don't worry, I have everything taken care of." I said to dispel any lingering doubts she might have.

"Alright, if you're sure that's what you want I'll accept it." Zatanna said

With that sorted out we walked over to where Artemis and Miguel were speaking with Zatanna's mother.

"Hello, Mrs. Zatara. It's good to see again," I said respectfully while smiling at the sight of her doting on Miguel and Artemis. She was telling Miguel how he was getting bigger every time she saw him, and telling Artemis how it had been far too long since she had last seen her and that Artemis simply had to come to church more often so they could talk more. Even going so far as saying that she could join her and Zatanna for lunch one day so they could have some girl time.

Artemis put up a hard front, but I could tell she enjoyed having Mrs. Zatara doting on her. None of us had any real mother figure in our lives and Mrs. Zatara seemed determined to fill that role. She didn't really do it with me, which I appreciated. I think she picked up that I had complicated feelings towards parental figures in general and wouldn't respond to it as well as the other two. She was still kind to me, and always made it clear that she would be there to listen if I ever needed to talk about anything, but apart from that she respected my need for emotional distance between us.

"Samuel! How wonderful to see you again! I was beginning to wonder if I would get the chance to speak with you at all before my daughter dragged you away!" Mrs. Zatara said as she laughed and wrapped her arms around me, eager to claim a hug of her own, "And what have I told you about that 'Mrs. Zatara' nonsense! No! I will not allow it! It makes me sound so old! My name is Sindella, and that is what you call me! I will accept nothing else!"

Sindella then stepped back and a devious smile appeared on her face.

"At least until my little Zatanna's wedding day! After that day, I will expect you to address me as 'mother'. Do I make myself clear, young man?" Sindella said as she laughed at our expressions.

"Mama! You're embarrassing me!" Zatanna whined as she hid her face in her hands although it did nothing to hide how her face was currently as red as a tomato. I was just as embarrassed as she was although thankfully I managed to maintain my composure better than she did.

"I suppose I can address you by name if that's what you really want, but I sincerely doubt anyone could ever honestly think to call you old. You look more like Zatanna's older sister than you do her mother!" I said while smiling at her. I was barely even exaggerating. Sindella was a truly beautiful woman, and from a distance could actually pass as Zatanna's sister. Especially when they wore matching outfits like they were right now.

Sindella was wearing a white sundress that did a wonderful job accentuating her figure. She was moderately tall, standing at around 5'10" in heels. She had curly dark hair that perfectly framed her face and accentuated her features. She had bright blue almond shaped eyes, high cheekbones and full pouty lips. She had a modest bust, slim waist, full hips, a firm backside, and long toned legs.

Zatanna was practically a mirror image of her mother from the neck up. She wasn't particularly tall. Standing at only 5 feet even, only a few inches shorter than I was. Only time would tell if she would go on to inherit the rest of her mother's 'features'.

For a brief moment I couldn't help but picture a fully grown Zatanna standing across from me in a wedding dress. I was quick to dispel the image and bring my mind back to the present. I did a good job of looking calm, but the truth is that Sindella's word had hit me like a brick. This was the first time she had ever brought up the possibility of Zatanna and I getting married. While I'm sure she was just teasing us. That comment about me addressing her as 'mother' implied that she would have no problem welcoming into her family if Zatanna and I actually ended up married.

Fuck! First Isaac, and now Sindella? Why are people so determined to make me think about what my future might hold?

"Oh, what a charmer you are, Samuel! I can't wait for the day that Giovanni stops being so overprotective so we can stop with all this sneaking around nonsense. I truly look forward to the day we can all simply sit down together and have a nice dinner!" Sindella exclaimed as she seemed to shake her head in disbelief that her husband didn't agree with her. Personally I thought there was a better chance of hell freezing over than there was for Giovanni Zatara ever accepting me as his daughter's boyfriend, but I wasn't dumb enough to say that out loud.

"That does sound nice, Sindella. Maybe one day it'll happen." I replied without sharing my thoughts on the matter.

"Bah! I'll wear him down eventually, you'll see!" Sindella said as she wagged her finger at us, "That's enough of that now! Run along you two! Go and enjoy the carnival, these opportunities don't come often so it's best to enjoy them to the fullest when they do."

"That sounds like a fantastic idea," I said before I turned to Artemis and Miguel who had been standing off to the side and laughing at how flustered Sindella was making Zatanna and I, "we're gonna head off now ok? We'll find each other later when it's time to head home. Be sure to call me if you need me."

"Yeah, yeah, whatever. Just go already, we all know you want to!" Artemis teased me as she gestured for Zatanna and I to just leave.

"Ha! Yeah, you got me there! Let's go, Z!" I said as I turned and grabbed Zatanna's hand as we walked towards the carnival.

/

Despite fully expecting to enjoy the carnival, I was still surprised by how much fun I had. It was all thanks to Zatanna, I knew there was no way I would've had this much fun if I had been here with anyone else. This was a rare moment for us to just let go of all our troubles and simply enjoy each other's company. We didn't even have to worry about one of the other members of the church snitching to Giovanni since apparently Sindella had gone around and made sure that everyone knew we had her full approval and her husband was to be kept completely out of the loop.

I think Zatanna picked up on how much I needed a day like today and tried to make sure we had as much fun as possible. We made our way through the carnival multiple times and took advantage of everything it had to offer. We split a funnel cake and laughed at how much powdered sugar we managed to get on our faces while eating it. We rode the tilt-a-whirl and spun around so fast that we nearly puked up the aforementioned funnel cake yet we were still laughing the entire time.

We went into a photo booth and took pictures for one of those little photo strips. There were four photos on a single strip, although I made sure to pay extra so we could each have a copy. The first two photos were of us being stupid and making funny faces at the camera, the third was of us sharing a kiss on the lips, and the fourth was of the two of us blushing and smiling at each other after the kiss. I made sure Zatanna knew to hide the photos from her parents since I knew that Sindella would embarrass the living daylights out of the both of us if she ever saw them. Whereas Giovanni might actually try to murder me for daring to 'defile' his precious little. The fact that Zatanna didn't object to my assumption towards her father's reaction said a lot about the accuracy of said assumption.

We played all of the games and lost miserably at most of them, although I did manage to win a stuffed powder blue teddy bear when I got a perfect score at the shooting gallery. What can I say? Being an adolescent criminal comes in handy sometimes. When Isaac gave me my first gun he then spent the rest of the day drilling gun safety into my head and making sure I could shoot accurately.

At the moment we were riding the ferris wheel for the umpteenth time. I had one arm wrapped around Zatanna's waist while she cuddled up against me. She was using her left hand to hold the bear won for her, while her right hand was busy fiddling with the silver heart pendant on the necklace I had given her earlier in the year for her birthday.

We weren't saying anything, simply enjoying the moment and each other's company. Then I felt Zatanna moving as she shifted her position so she was looking straight into my eyes. We stayed like that for a moment before we both leaned forward and shared a long deep kiss. When the kiss ended we stayed in that position staring into each other's eyes with our foreheads pressed together. After some time passed we spoke.

"I love you, Sam," Zatanna whispered to me as her eyes shone with the kind of sincerity and vulnerability that only comes from one truly speaking from the heart and running the risk of unspeakable pain if the recipient of said vulnerability doesn't feel the same way. Thankfully, Zatanna had nothing to worry about.

"I love you too, Z," I whispered back. I'm not sure what she saw when she looked into my eyes, but whatever it was, she must've been satisfied with it as her face lit up with a radiant smile and she began to cry happy tears before leaning in and once again capturing my lips with her own. A gesture which I enthusiastically reciprocated.

/

Artemis tried to interrogate me during the entire cab ride home. According to her I was 'way too happy' and 'wouldn't stop grinning like an idiot'. I had no doubt she was right, but I was adamantly refusing to talk about what happened. That moment was special, and I refused to share it with anyone but Zatanna. Although the knowing glance I saw Sindella shoot her daughter led me to believe that Zatanna was currently undergoing a similar interrogation. Hopefully she will be able to hold her ground.

As we got out of the cab I was forced to carry Miguel as he had fallen asleep on the ride home. Thankfully I had Artemis with me to help open the door to our apartment or else I may have struggled.

"You wanna come in for a bit? I can make us some hot chocolate," I asked Artemis as she held the door open for me to walk through it.

"Sure, that sounds nice," Artemis said

"Cool, let me just take Miguel to bed and I'll start…" I said before my voice trailed off as I spotted something in the living room that made my blood run cold. The vcr was lying broken on the living room floor. I wasted no time in handing Miguel off to Artemis before rushing forward to investigate despite already knowing what I would find.

The money was gone.

"FUCK!" I screamed at the top of my lungs which had the unfortunate side effect of waking up Miguel.

"Sam, calm down, we'll figure something out," Artemis tried to reason with me, but I wasn't listening. I was too busy rushing down the hall towards my father's room. I had no idea what I was going to do. All I knew was that I was furious. Everything had been so good up to this point, and my piece of shit father just had to ruin. How was I supposed to pay for Miguel's insulin now?

I didn't have a choice anymore. I would have to take Isaac up on his offer and join him on the job tomorrow night.

"WHY DO YOU ALWAYS HAVE TO RUIN EVERYTHING!" I screamed right before I kicked open the door to my father's room ready to take all my anger out on him.

Only to have all my rage disappear as I suddenly found myself staring into the lifeless eyes of my father's corpse.

"Oh my god," Artemis whispered from behind me followed by Miguel whimpering the word 'dad' before I heard Artemis pick Miguel up and walk back to the living room.

I never broke eye contact with my father's corpse.

Eventually, I found myself moving forward to try to figure out what happened. It didn't take long for me to put the pieces together. My father had clearly used the money to buy the booze and pills currently sitting on his nightstand before he then passed out while laying on his back which then led to him choking to death on his own puke.

I stared at him for a while longer. Searching my feelings for anything resembling grief as I stared at the corpse of a man I once loved. No matter how hard I looked all I found was anger and resentment for all the shit he put me through, and relief at the thought that I wouldn't have to put up with him anymore. With that revelation in mind, I turned and walked out of the room. There was nothing left for me there.

When I got to the living room I found Artemis sitting on the couch comforting Miguel as he sat on her lap and cried against her shoulder. I was confused by this. As far as I knew, Miguel didn't care about our father any more than I did. If anything he should care less since he never knew him as anything other than a useless drunk.

I decided to let Artemis deal with Miguel as she was obviously better at dealing with a crying child than I was.

"I have to make a call. I'll be back in a bit. Wait here and don't go near that room," I said to Artemis in a voice that surprised even me from how dead it sounded.

I walked outside and proceeded to call Isaac. He answered on the third ring.

"Hey, Sammy! I wasn't expecting you to call until tomorrow morning at the earliest! So, what's the verdict? You in or out?" Isaac asked in a cheerful tone. There was a lot of noise in the background. He was probably drunk and out partying. Hopefully he would be upset at me for dragging him away from his fun.

"Yo! Sammy, you there?" Isaac asked when I didn't respond right away.

"My dad's dead" I said in the same dead tone I'd spoken to Artemis with.

"What? You mind running that by me again, Sammy? I think I misheard you" Isaac asked in the same cheerful tone as before, although the background noise was mostly gone. He must've moved to a quieter area.

"I said my dad's dead. I need help." I replied with the same dead tone as before, but I noticed my voice quiver a bit when I said those last three words. The line went quiet, for a moment I thought he might've hung up on me. I didn't blame him, given the choice between partying and dealing with this nonsense I might've made the same choice. I was proven wrong a moment later when Isaac spoke again.

"Where are you? Did you kill him?" Isaac asked in a serious tone, any cheer that might have been there earlier was gone now.

"I'm sitting on the steps in front of my apartment building. I didn't kill him, I just got home from the church carnival and found him like that" I said. For a moment I wondered if I should be offended that Isaac thought I might have murdered my own father. Nah. Given the kind of relationship we had, that's a reasonable assumption to make. Which is a fucked up thought in and of itself.

"Ok, stay there. I'm on my way." Isaac said before he simply hung up.

So that's what I did. I sat there and waited. I asked to bum a cigarette from a guy who was walking past. I guess I must've looked bad because he gave me two. He left after I handed back his lighter once I'd used it to light the first cigarette.

After I finished smoking the first cigarette I used it to light the second one. While smoking the second cigarette I remembered the photo strip from earlier and I decided to pull it out of my pocket so I could look at it.

That's how Isaac found me when he arrived. Sitting there smoking a cigarette and staring at photos of happy moments that were taken mere hours earlier as I wondered how everything had gone to shit so quickly. I didn't even notice Isaac was there until he started speaking.

"Sammy? You doin' alright?" Isaac asked in a concerned tone.

"Hmm? Oh, yeah. I'm fine, Isaac." I said before I suddenly started laughing. Which seemed to set Isaac and the group he arrived with on edge. Which was an appropriate response when you lived in the same city as The Joker. "Yeah, I'm good, Isaac. It's just been on helluva night, y'know"

That drained the tension almost immediately. Isaac cracked a smile as he moved to sit next to me.

"HA! Yeah, I bet!" Isaac said before he spotted the photo in my hand, "Oh? And who is this?"

I just smiled and handed him the photo so he could get a better look.

"That's my girlfriend, Z. We spent the whole day at the carnival together. Artemis looked after Miguel for me so that we could have the day to ourselves without having to worry about anything. It was honestly a perfect day. Or at least it was until we got home" I said with a smile on my face as I reminisced about the day I just had. Isaac either didn't hear, or chose to ignore the last thing I said.

"HA! See this, Ricky? Sammy wasn't didn't care about smelling like weed at church earlier, he just didn't want to risk you messing up his date! Can't say I blame him either, she's pretty cute. You found yourself a good one, huh, Sammy?" Isaac joked while the guys all passed around the photo and made general noises of agreement with what Isaac said before they handed it back to me.

"Not just a good one. The best one." I said confidently as I looked down at the photo while smiling like an idiot before I put it back in my pocket. The guys all laughed at my statement.

"Well, I hope it works out for you, Sammy. I really do." Isaac said as he chuckled, "When are you gonna bring her around so we can meet her? Shit, I'll even let you borrow my car. You can take her cruising around and show her the sights. Who knows? Maybe you'll even get lucky."

"Probably never. Her dad hates me so we don't get to spend much time together. Today was a special occasion since her dad was out of town. Besides that wouldn't work on her, she's a good girl, y'know? She wouldn't fit in around here" I replied

"Whatchu tryna say? We're not good enough to hang around your girl?" Ricky growled at me

"Yup," I replied calmly as I made sure to pop the 'p' for emphasis.

Everyone was silent for a moment, not expecting my response. Then all of a sudden we were all laughing as if I had just told the greatest joke in the world.

"Fuck, that was perfect!" Isaac said as he wiped a tear from his eye and struggled to contain his laughter. Once he finally stopped laughing he took a deep breath, and slapped both his thighs before standing up,"Right, that's enough fun for now. Let's take care of business and then we can get back to having fun. Ricky, Carlos, get the stuff out of the trunk yeah?"

Isaac then turned to address me and began speaking.

"I'm guessing you called me since you couldn't call the cops without Social Services also getting involved." Isaac said

"Honestly, I didn't even consider that. My mind was kinda messy after I found him. You were just the first person I thought to call." I replied honestly.

Isaac seemed surprised at my answer, but chose not to comment on it.

"Well, anyway, don't worry about the body, we'll handle it. Honestly, so long as the authorities don't find out he's dead, things should pretty much be business as usual for you considering you were already paying for everything. Shit things might even get easier since you won't have to put up with his nonsense anymore." Isaas said

"Yeah I had a similar realization earlier," I replied calmly before I remembered something else I wanted to speak to Isaac about," Oh, Isaac, about that job you mentioned earlier today. I'm in."

"You sure?" Isaac asked as he looked at me searching for any sort of doubt. He found none. "Well, alright then."

"Oh, there was one more thing. Any chance I could get paid in advance? That asshole stole all my cash and I need to buy more insulin for Miguel." I asked

"Yeah that's fine, of course I can't give you all of it upfront since I don't carry around that kinda cash around with me. Lemme see what I got," Isaac said before he got back into his car and searched through the compartments. After a little while he got out of the car, walked back towards me and handed me a thick wad of bills. "That's around three grand. Is that enough to tide you over until the job's done, or do you need more?"

"No, this is plenty. Thanks, Isaac. You really came through for me today." I said sincerely

"Don't sweat it, Sammy." Isaac replied before we all walked into the apartment. Artemis jumped a bit when we walked in as we clearly startled her. Once she got her wits together, she shushed us before then gesturing towards Miguel. He had apparently cried himself to sleep and was currently being cradled by Artemis.

"Why do you all go up to Artemis' apartment and get some rest while we take care of things down here. Don't worry, we'll lock up when we finish." Isaac suggested

"Yeah, that sounds like a good idea. Let's go, Artemis." I replied and gestured for Artemis to follow me. In a strange reversal from how we were earlier when we arrived back from the carnival, I found myself unlocking the door to Artemis' apartment and holding it open so she could enter while holding a sleeping Miguel.

We didn't say a word as we walked through the apartment towards Artemis' room. Nor when we arrived. We just kicked off our shoes and proceeded to pile onto Artemis' twin sized bed where we just held each other for a while before eventually falling asleep.

/

"I hope you know what you're doing, Sam." Artemis said to me in a solemn tone as I finished getting ready for Isaac's job. I was dressed wearing a black hoodie, black jeans, and black shoes. I had my gun tucked into its holster behind my waist where it was covered up by my hoodie.

"Yeah, me too." I replied in a quiet voice. I wished I could reassure her that everything would be alright, but I couldn't. Despite my best efforts to the contrary, I'd been on edge the entire day as I ran errands.

We were currently in Artemis' room while Miguel was watching tv in her living room. Artemis and Miguel had both been here all day while I had left to buy Miguel's medication. I had also stopped by my apartment earlier to change my clothes and pack an overnight bag for Miguel since he would be spending the night with Artemis while I was out working.

This wasn't the first time she had looked after him overnight for me, but it was the first time he stayed at her apartment since she usually just slept over at our place. However, given the events of the previous night, none of us were entirely comfortable spending an extended amount of time in our apartment yet.

Even when I stopped by there earlier, I was in and out as quick as I could manage. I did take the time to inspect my fathers room and admire how good a job Isaac had done cleaning up after my father. It looked like an ordinary room now. If I didn't already know otherwise, I'd never suspect that there was a corpse there less than twenty-four hours ago. I still didn't spend any more time there than absolutely necessary. In fact, I ended up rushing out of the apartment after I'd started to have trouble breathing when I looked at the bed and began remembering the lifeless eyes of my father's corpse staring back at me.

Other than that I'd spent the entire day in Artemis' apartment as I killed time until I had to leave. It was hard at first, but eventually I ended up relaxing a bit as I texted with Zatanna as we chatted and joked about any random thing that crossed our minds. Turns out I was right, and Sindella had spent much of the previous night teasing Zantanna and asking for details on how our date. I got a good chuckle out of that. Even though she was complaining vehemently about how embarrassing the whole ordeal had been, I could tell she wasn't actually upset.

I didn't tell her anything about the events of the previous night or the job I had tonight. I wasn't ready to talk about my father, and I never told her about my work if I could avoid it since I knew it would only cause her to worry.

"Just promise me you'll be careful, ok?" Artemis said as she fiddled with the two envelopes I had given her earlier for safekeeping in case anything happened to me tonight. She hadn't wanted to accept them at first, but eventually she relented. One of them contained the rest of the money I had received from Isaac last night.

The other was a letter I wrote for her to deliver to Zatanna for me. Hopefully she'd never have to read it.

"I promise." I said to Artemis just as the alarm I'd set on my phone went off signifying it was time for me to leave. I turned and left the bedroom with Artemis following close behind me as I made my way towards the living room where Miguel was watching tv. He barely even reacted as I approached, only responding by wrapping his arms around me after I hugged him and kissed his forehead.

"It's time for me to go to work. You be good for Artemis, ok?" I said

"Ok." Miguel mumbled before he squirmed out of my arms and returned to watching tv.

Just like Zatanna, I never really talked about my work with him. He certainly knew more than she did, but he was young enough that he didn't really understand it. The only thing I really drilled into his head was that he wasn't ever supposed to tell anyone about my work or our living situation. He didn't really fully understand that either, but he obeyed after I told him that if anyone ever found out he might be taken away by the government and sent to live with strangers.

After that I hugged Artemis and said goodbye, before walking out of the apartment and making my way to where Isaac told me to meet him.

/

I arrived at the trap house Isaac used as his headquarters and found that there was a party well under way. After a quick greeting, I was handed a beer and told to make myself at home. Isaac told me that we weren't leaving for a while, and he'd had me arrive early so we could chat and make sure I knew what to expect. He explained that we would be meeting up with one of his suppliers from the Russian mob at the docks for a simple exchange.

"Like I told you before, I've done business with these guys before so it should all be pretty routine. All you gotta do is stand in the back with the rest of the guys while I go up and make the exchange. Easy, right? So just have a drink and relax. We'll be heading out in a bit." Isaac said as he gestured for me to take a seat on the couch.

At first, I felt awkward and nervous as I hadn't expected to have to interact with so many new people tonight. I wasn't an introvert and had attended a few parties before, but I wasn't exactly a social butterfly. I sat there taking sips from my beer and trying to fade into the background as I observed everything going on around me. Eventually, I found myself surprised when Ricky came to my rescue and struck up a conversation with me and started introducing me to people. Once the initial awkwardness had passed, I felt any residual tension I had steadily slipped away as I cracked jokes and chatted with the other party guests.

Not long after that, Isaac walked into the room with a backpack slung over his shoulder and announced it was time to head out to those of us who would be accompanying him. There would only be six of us attending the meeting, but apart from Isaac and Ricky, I didn't know any of the other gang members present. Isaac pulled me aside before we left and handed me an Uzi submachine gun. I was confused and told him I already had a gun. He just laughed.

"Trust me, you're gonna need something with a little more kick than that handgun you got if we actually end up in a shootout. Besides, part of your job is to actually look intimidating. Your age is already a point against you on that front, but no one will take you seriously if all you're carrying is that little pea shooter. So just take this for now, and you can give it back when the job's done. Alright?" Isaac said once his laughter had died off.

I didn't see a reason to argue with him so I just listened as he proceeded to give me a quick tutorial on how to use the Uzi before I tucked it into the front pocket of my hoodie and followed Isaac out to the garage and we got into the black SUV we would be driving to the docks.

The entire drive was filled with laughter and conversation. I didn't really participate, apart from the occasional comment, instead choosing to simply listen to the music blaring from the speakers and look out the window.

Pedro looked at Rico and asked "how you living?"

Rico said he want out of the dope game

But he love that fast money off the cocaine

Pedro said he get out in a couple weeks

And he need Rico to loan his ass a couple keys

Rico said "I got you, you know you my homie"

Pedro told Rico he was the next Tony

/

When we arrived at the docks, we parked a small distance away from the Russians who had gotten there before us. Once we all got out of the SUV, I found myself standing next to Ricky as Isaac walked forward to meet the leader of the Russians halfway between our two groups.

"Sergei! How's life been treating you?" Isaac said in a jovial tone as he greeted his business associate.

"It's been good, my friend! Life is good, business has been good as well. Now, if only my wife would stop her endless nagging then I wouldn't have anything to complain about!" Sergei replied as he let out a booming laugh, "How about you, Isaac? I see you've brought someone new with you. A little young don't you think?" he said as he gestured towards me.

"Yeah, I can't argue with that, but he has potential. I figured he was old enough to start learning the ropes. A sentiment I'm sure you can understand." Isaac replied as he gestured to a member of the opposing group. With every word spoken I felt myself grow more at ease. Isaac was right, there really hadn't been anything to worry about. They had clearly done this enough to be familiar with each other.

"It is as you say, my friend! That's my son, Ivan! He's still young, yes, but more than ready to begin learning about the family business." Sergei replied with a smile that showed he was proud of his son and eager to see him grow into the man he would one day become.

As Isaac and Sergei continued to chat, I found my gaze drifting to Ivan. He looked to be around sixteen. He was a few inches taller than me, with blond hair, blue eyes, and was dressed in a suit similar to the one his father wore. I thought back to the conversation I had shared with Isaac where he had stated his desire for me to one day inherit the gang from him.

If I did that, would I ever find myself standing across from Ivan having a conversation with him similar to the one currently taking place in front of us? I suppose only time would tell.

When Isaac and Sergei finally finished speaking, they decided to wrap up the deal. They said their goodbyes and exchanged their respective bags.

That's when everything went to shit.

The moment the bags changed hands, sirens began to blare and blue lights were flashing as several cop cars began speeding towards us.

"THIS IS THE GOTHAM POLICE DEPARTMENT! GET ON THE GROUND WITH YOUR HAND BEHIND YOUR HEAD!" A voice announced from a loudspeaker in one of the cars that were beginning to surround us.

I was stunned. Everything had been going so well. How could this happen? I stood there, unsure of what to do, before looking back towards Isaac hoping he knew a way out of this predicament. As I looked over, I saw Sergei's face, which had previously held a jovial smile, was now twisted into an expression filled with rage.

"You motherfucker! You sold me out!?" Sergei screamed as he reached behind his back.

Time slowed to a crawl.

I watched as Isaac, who seemed just as shocked by this turn of events as the rest of us, looked away from the cop cars surrounding us and back towards Sergei.

I watched as Sergei shot Isaac in the head right as head turned to face him.

I watched as blood and brain matter came flying out of the back of Isaacs skull.

I watched as Isaac seemed to buckle, as if he was a marionette whose strings had been cut, and slowly fell to the ground.

Isaac was dead.

I heard Ricky scream in rage beside me as he lifted his gun and fired round after round into Sergei until he was lying dead on the ground next to Isaac.

Then all hell broke loose. Suddenly, everyone was shooting at each other. I barely even noticed. For the second time in as many days, I found myself staring into the cold lifeless eyes of someone I knew.

It wasn't until Ricky collapsed beside me from numerous shots to his chest that my focus returned to the situation at hand. It was nothing short of a miracle that I hadn't been killed while I was distracted.

I took one look at all the chaos around me and didn't even hesitate before I turned and ran away as fast as I could.

I barely managed to squeeze between two shipping containers and escape the blockade of cop cars that had been surrounding us. No one but me was small enough to take advantage of a similar opening. They were all trapped.

My thoughts were a mess. As I ran through the maze of shipping containers around me, I thought of nothing other than escaping this clusterfuck and making my way back home.

I just kept running. I ducked under cranes, I jumped a chain link fence, and around countless containers. I barely noticed any of it. I just kept running.

I had almost reached the edge of the dockyard. I spotted the exit from in between two parallel shipping containers that had just enough room for me to run through them.

Just as I began running towards the exit, I heard a man yelling from somewhere off towards my left before a bullet ricocheted off of the large containers near me.

I didn't even hesitate. I pulled out the Uzi Isaac had given me earlier, and I proceeded to empty the magazine in the direction the shot had originated from. I never even looked in that direction. I was too focused on my goal.

I ran through the gap between the two containers and felt a sense of euphoria overcome. I did it! I was home free!

I let out a whoop of joy as I continued sprinting towards the open gate in front of me. Once I was out of this area I could simply hop on the first bus or train I saw and ride it far away from the docks. It didn't matter where it was going, so long as it took me away from here. I could always get a cab home later from wherever I found myself.

I was smiling as I ran. I was so sure that I had gotten away that I didn't even notice my predicament until I found myself slamming against the ground.

At first, I thought I had simply tripped, but as I tried to get back up, I found I couldn't. My arms and legs were wrapped tightly in some sort of metal cable. No matter how much I struggled I couldn't get free.

I noticed movement from my peripheral vision and looked over just in time to see a kid leap off the top of a nearby shipping container and land close to me. I was confused until he started walking towards me and I got a clear view of him when he walked under a streetlight.

He had a domino mask on his face concealing his features, but the rest of his outfit revealed his identity. He was wearing a black cape with a yellow interior, and a red outfit with a capital 'R' proudly displayed on his chest.

It was Robin.

"No! Nonononononono!" I yelled as I began to panic, and started flailing around doing everything I could to escape my restraint.

"Don't bother, I got you wrapped up nice and tight. You're not going anywhere," Robin said as he walked closer. I quickly realized he was right and tried a different approach.

"PLEASE! Just let me go ok!? You don't have to do this!" I begged him as I abandoned my pride. If the price of making it home to Artemis and Miguel was groveling at the feet of a kid younger than me, then that was a price I would gladly pay. "Please! You don't understand! I can't get arrested! I have to go home! Please!"

I was sobbing at this point, but I couldn't bring myself to care. I ignored the tears running down my face and focused all of my attention on the child in front of me as I begged him for mercy.

I was looking right at him, so I saw the exact moment his expression changed. Before it was impassive, with one side of his lips curled up in a slight smirk. I watched as that changed and he was suddenly sneering at me in disgust. He looked at me like I wasn't even human. Like I was trash on the side of the road.

He had no intention of letting me go.

"You're pathetic. Just like every other filthy criminal in this city. If you can't do the time, then don't do the crime!" Robin called out in a mocking tone as he began running towards me. I saw his foot rushing towards me as he aimed a kick at my head.

I was starting to lose consciousness, but Robin wasn't done talking.

"If you didn't want to end up here, then you should have made better life choices," Robin said.

Robin's mocking taunt was the last thing I heard before my vision went dark. His words were ringing through my head over and over again as I finally passed out.

That's the chapter, I hope you enjoyed it!

Be sure to leave a review! The more reviews I get, the more motivation I have to write.

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Incarnate47: Yeah if this chapter didn't clear things up, then let me just say out right that Sam will not be joining the team. He's gonna be on a very different path, although he will have interactions with the team.