Chapter 18
As homecoming approaches for Gotham Academy the bids to take people as a date flood in. Every desirable student has their admirers feeling bold enough to ask outright. Thankfully Olivia does not have that problem...as much. Her would-be suitors have thinned out to only the most persistent holdouts. A part of her wondered why they were all members of sports teams...well all except one. Ronan Sionis, grandson to Janus Cosmetics' founder Richard Sionis, just does not seem to understand a no when he hears one. They've crossed paths before at high society parties and will no doubt have more run-ins in the future. She has to get him to understand they will never be a thing.
"Olivia, just think about it," Ronan begins to explain while walking beside her. "You and I would be the talk of the town. A Gotham princess and a Gotham prince."
"It sounds like your only interest is clout. You should ask someone else," she explains while holding her head up and letting her hair discharge angry static. "I have a boyfriend and I have no interest in going to the dance."
"Don't be like that. I know there's real chemistry between us. I mean you're wearing it so clearly. I know your hair lights up when you're excited," he points out with a sleazy smile.
"It also lights up when I'm startled, or angry. When I stub my toe! I'm with Victor. Please drop this and go ask someone else out!" Olivia walked off leaving the boy behind.
"Street trash can't possibly treat you right like I can!" he yelled over the bustling crowd of students.
Olivia inhales then turns the corner to find Arthur. A warmth comes over her and she smiles. "Hi, Arthur!"
"Miss Olivia!" he said while fumbling to get his books in his locker. "I was about to go looking for you. There's something I wanted to discuss with you."
"If it's the costume, I'm telling you, you'll look great in it," Olivia reassures.
Arthur smiles at the compliment while rubbing one of his arms. "Thank you but that's not what I wanted to discuss. Something we should talk about in private. Preferably before we get out of school today." Olivia looks concerned but agrees and follows him out to the narrow alley where many students smoked between classes.
"Is everything okay?" Olivia asks.
"I...I don't know how to say this but...I think your boyfriend is dangerous, Miss Olivia." He witnesses a hurt look for the first time in Olivia's eyes and he immediately wishes he could retract his words.
"I already know what Victor is capable of. I'm honestly tired of hearing people speak about him like he's some wild animal."
"It's...it's less of what he's capable of and more so what he is! I looked into my mother's research and found that there are beings out there that eat fae. Like we are candy to them!"
Olivia furrowed her brow. "And you think he's one of these things?!"
"I know he is! Or he's got enough blood in him to be considered one!"
"How?!"
"I tried using my charm on him and it had no effect on him." Olivia's eyes flashed and hair lit up. Arthur backed away and bowed his head. "I'm sorry but I had to find out something for your sake."
"What could possibly be so important that you'd try and charm my boyfriend?! Answer me!" The pressure Olivia put out was intense and Arthur dropped to a knee.
"Olivia, please!" he gasps.
"Answer me, Arthur!"
"I..." He took a breath and tried to stay up on that knee. "I wanted to know if he loved you!" Olivia paused with her eyes wide. "As your friend I wanted to make sure because it's clear you love him but you haven't told him have you?" Olivia looked off and the anger she felt dissipated. The pressure on Arthur let up and he rose back to his feet.
"It's too soon to say things like that, but it's also none of your business!"
"It doesn't detract from the fact he is dangerous."
"SO AM I!" The alley lit up for just a moment as a bolt rushed up the wall behind her. "I am so pissed off at you right now."
"I understand it's a lot to deal with. I can understand if you hate me."
"I don't hate you! I just...I don't know what you're trying to do by telling me this."
Arthur breathes heavily and tries to remain on his feet. "It is a compulsion to protect my monarch. I...I don't know if it's a crush on you or not but your influence is messing with my head. I almost charmed half the student body to get them to leave you alone!" He gripped at the front of his shirt and bowed his head. "When you blacked out in class I thought I was going to die if I didn't help you." Olivia clenched her fists and sucked in her bottom lip. "I crossed a line and I'm sorry. Just because he's got this weird devourer blood in him doesn't mean he's acting on it. He likely has no idea. I... I should have stayed out of this. I can understand if you never trust me again."
"I need you to give me all the notes your mom has on monarchs so I can figure out how to control this influence over you. I don't want to be the excuse you use when you pull something like this!"
"Yes, Miss Olivia," he said in a small voice.
"I am still mad at you but you're on friend probation. I will be polite but I will just be quietly seething and will not talk to you outside of class assignments until I'm done. Drop the charm you put on anyone."
"That's already done. The effects last no more than three days. You've been handling them so well on your own I haven't had to place a new one in a week. Again, I'm sorry Miss Olivia."
From then Olivia kept to her word. He wasn't being ignored but she refused to say a word to Arthur if she could help it. She hasn't been this mad at anyone in ages! If her influence is something she can just will away then she's making all attempts to do so throughout the day but until she's ready to speak to Arthur again she won't know if that alone will work. She didn't ask for information on these fae eating beings because she simply did not want to know. Knowing Victor couldn't be charmed was something on its own to process. He did not need to know it didn't work on him. He'd be furious and understandably so. But simply not telling him felt wrong. It was one more thing she'd have to reveal and he may hate her for hiding it.
Victor swung the luxury clothing store's bag over his shoulder weighed down with clothes for Olivia then gently nudged her. "You in there, Sunshine?" he asked while they made their way to his car.
Olivia was startled out of her thoughts. A mild bit of static ran along her skin and she took a deep breath. "I...I have something to tell you and you have to promise you won't be mad or retaliate." Victor arched a brow. He was normally not on board for such an agreement but this was Olivia. "Promise me?"
"I promise." There was concern growing in both of them now.
"When you ran into Arthur at my house the other night he tried to use his ocular charm on you and it didn't work." Victor stopped walking to look her over. "He...he said he did it because he wanted to find out how you really feel about me."
Victor sighed, looked off and took her hand in his with their fingers laced together. "That explains what he meant about anything for his monarch." That slick little shit! He and Arthur were lucky it didn't take or Victor would certainly find a way to get past it and make him regret it.
"Please don't blame him too much. I'm sure this whole monarch thing I have going made him think he had to or something." She sighed and avoided looking him in the eye. She felt responsible for this. "I've been giving him the silent treatment while I figure it out."
"He must be squirming then, eh?" as he led her back to the car once more. She nods. "Then I don't have to do anything to make him feel worse."
"You're not mad?"
"I am furious but he's already plenty scared now that he knows it won't work on me!" Victor grinned. "You've any idea why?"
"I can't really say for sure. I didn't want to look too hard into it, to be honest." He squeezed her hand. That felt like a partial lie, the first he's ever taken notice of from her. "I feel so robbed right now. My mother should be here to tell me these things. I feel like I'm making a mess of my life by not knowing everything I should about what I am. And there could be other fae in the city too! Who knows whose day I'm fucking up just by existing!"
Victor gently rapt a knuckle on her forehead and she scrunched up her nose. "Hey, don't worry about that right now. You already have enough on your plate as is. We can head to my place and unwind."
Olivia put her hands on her hips. She changed into more casual looking clothes and made him do the same for a reason today. "We're going to the game, Victor!" she said.
So much for the out he was hoping for. "I...am having second thoughts."
"You wanted to go! I'm starting to see why you haven't seen him play in a while." She slipped into the front passenger seat and waited for him to put her bag in the back. "You said things were going to get hectic soon. You might not get another chance and I want to see what your brother looks like. I bet he's stupid cute!"
Victor sighed then pulled on his sunglasses. "Are you sure you don't have any influence over me too?" he asked.
Olivia slid over to kiss his cheek. "No more than anyone else. Now let's go! Sports time!" He chuckles and pulls the car out of the parking garage. Their destination is across town to Gotham High, located close to Gotham U. There is quite the turn out or so she assumes. The line for tickets into the game is quite long and from what she can see of the stands they are filling up. The people walking around seemed excited and Victor was occupied with looking towards the teams.
"What's his number?" she asked to try and pull his attention down for a bit. "Also what do their uniforms look like? I didn't think to look it up."
"They're in gold on blue and his number is 14."
"Is that a good number for him to have or?"
Victors laughs and tugs her close. "You really have no clue about baseball do you?"
"My family isn't that big on sports! Also my tactic is working. You seem less nervous now." He gives a weak smile then kisses her temple. They made it through the line and the gates and Olivia cut a beeline toward the field! Victor may have panicked a bit and tried to divert her somewhere else but it was too late.
Her fingers hook on the chain link fence while she looks around the field. If the uniform wasn't blue with gold on it she didn't pay attention to them at all. The away team could be Gotham Academy for all she knew! Victor finally caught up to her after being slowed down by a gaggle of giggling teenagers only for her to slip out of reach. "Liv!" he hissed!
Olivia drifts to try and get a closer look of the home team. She's reading numbers on jerseys but finding no 14 walking around. "Oh shit, you're Olivia Wayne right?" a player in blue and gold said from the other side of the fence. Her eyes go to the number, 7.
"Oh, do I know you?" she asked with bright eyes and a cheery tone.
Number 7 blushes and rubs the back of his neck. "Uh, no ma'am! You're just a little famous. My little brother follows you online and really loves the costumes you make. I may have seen a few myself." Victor came to stand beside Olivia with his hands jammed in his pockets and still looking around behind sunglasses.
"Oh really?" Olivia's entire being lit up. "Which ones did you like?"
The poor boy's face was red. "The uh, queen bee bombshell was pretty hot, I mean cute!" Now the boy has Victor's attention and he turns on his work energy.
She clapped and bounced on the spot. "I loved working on that one! I've been planning another bug related one but more pin-up."
"That sounds like it's going to be great." There are more players gathered around the dugout now. "Hey, I know this is probably weird but can I get a selfie? My brother is going to flip when I tell him I met you."
"Oh course. Am I allowed on the other side of the fence?" she asks. This was her opportunity to snoop!
"Oh yeah! Follow me!" He says and leads Olivia and Victor towards the gate. They are in too deep now. His girlfriend is going to stress him out faster than a meeting with the families! The gate is opened for Olivia and she steps through with Victor waiting behind only to be tugged along. "Oh uh, is this your boyfriend?" 7 asks and clearly hopes for a no.
Olivia opens her mouth to confirm but Victor speaks up. "I'm Miss Wayne's bodyguard. Pretend I'm not here," he says then goes back to looking as if he's minding the crowd. Olivia just rolls with it for now!
"Oh well, let me grab my phone." He trots off into the dugout and returns with a cell phone to take the picture. Olivia squeezed in close and smiled up at the lens. "Thanks!" he says with a bright smile. After looking over his phone his smile is even bigger. "Wow, you really don't take a bad photo ever, huh?"
She shrugs. "I wouldn't say that. I look terrible in the morning."
"I'd have to see that to believe it." Victor stared 7 down. The player swallowed and looked back at Olivia. "So what brings you out here?"
"Research! Gotham Academy doesn't have a baseball team and I was thinking of doing something with different sports uniforms." Victor smirked. His girl was dangerous! Who did she learn to be this manipulative from? Her father no doubt. "I know next to nothing about baseball."
"Well, me and the guys can give you a run down before the game starts. You can check out the dugout too. Might give you inspiration for a photoshoot."
"Ooo, I'd love to!" Olivia said then smiled back at Victor. He tried to stop her, sighed and followed suit. As tall as he was, it was hard to keep a low profile like he wanted. So far he didn't spot his brother and while that concerned him he was still relieved!
Olivia locks in on being interested and asking questions. She poses for a few more selfies and she meets another fan not solely interested in her more provocative costumes. Some also brought up the blacking out incident and she diverts from that by mentioning she's working on costumes for the coming party at the botanical garden. Olivia has picked up on who she is looking for and spies one last player sitting on the bench with his jacket over his chest and cap pulled down over his eyes. "Hey, is he asleep?" she whispers.
"Not any more," said the player, causing her to jump! She let off a few sparks then composed herself. Not the same voice but still the same tone as Victor's.
"Sorry!" she said with.
"Don't mind Doug, Miss Wayne," 7 says and has clearly taken on the role as the team's ambassador for the cute girl in their midst. "He's got a whole ritual before a game." She can hear Victor's mind going off but he keeps himself together. Doug sits up and pulls his hat off. He seems to be a slightly more baby faced Victor but clearly took more after their mother. They did however have the same glowing brown eyes.
Olivia smiles and backs up. "Sorry! I should probably go find a seat. Do your best out there!" Victor took in every feature on the boy's face he could from this close then escorted Olivia off the field. On the other side of the fence the team can see her bouncing and waving to them.
Doug gets up and puts his jacket on a hook. "What's a rich girl like her doing here?" he asks one of his teammates.
"Said she was doing research for costume ideas." Doug arched a brow. "Yeah I know but you have to see her profile. She does stuff like this all the time."
"Later. Focus on the game."
Back in the stands Olivia and Victor found a seat and he exhaled. "God, babe, you're going to give me a heart attack!" he groaned.
"Oh come on, it wasn't that bad," she giggles then leans on him to watch the game. "He's so stinkin' cute! You think he's dating anyone?"
Victor smirks. "Am I about to lose my girlfriend to my own little brother?"
She giggles and shakes her head. "I've developed a taste for older men. But I'm just curious. Aren't you?"
"A little but I made a point to keep my distance. It's best to maintain that. I left him behind, he probably hates me or thinks I'm dead." Olivia frowns and squeezes his hand. He doesn't mean that does he? He nodded towards the dugout. "That was the closest I've been to him since we were kids. I've never actually sat through one of his games. Even back then I'd get called away to get work done."
Olivia swayed and beamed. "What I'm hearing is you want to watch the whole game?" He rubbed the back of his neck. "I want to see this impressive arm he has too."
While not the most fascinating thing Olivia has witnessed, the game was interesting to watch. Douglas O'Hara was announced to the pitcher's mound and the crowd seemed ecstatic. There were girls and boys at the very back of the stands with posters with his number on it screaming their hearts out. His time up to pitch was short. He struck out the opposing team to more cheering from the crowd and stepped down to go back to dozing in the dugout. That arm was killer! Once Gotham High was ahead the back and forth began. At least to Olivia's untrained eye the teams felt even. The crowd seemed quite chill compared to what she expected, which was angry parents yelling or a bit of fighting on the mound. She's watched too many movies it would seem.
Once Olivia understood what was going on she would stand and cheer with the home team! Her energy seems infectious to those around her and Victor couldn't help being distracted by her at times. He pulls her close to kiss her cheek between watching intense moments of the game. At some point Victor does take notice of the opposing team's pitcher. He seems to suddenly be larger than the last time he was on the mound. Even with Olivia in his lap now he leans forward to watch closely. There is something not quite right...but also with Gotham High's batter. The ball is thrown at a blinding speed and hit just the same leaving the field altogether to ruin someone's day beyond the fence. The metal bat discarded as the team walked bases had a sizable dent and bend where the ball struck.
Victor furrows his brow and keeps paying attention to the pitcher. It's like he got a second wind after being just okay before for the first few innings. It's concerning. In the end Gotham High comes out on top. The home crowd cheers and the players shake hands on the field. Victor expresses he needs to look into something and slips off only to return some time later. Olivia is one of the last to leave the stands, meeting up with Victor at the bottom. She asks about what he needed to do and he simply says it's job related.
Olivia puffed up her cheeks. "If you could do it while I'm here then I think I should be allowed to know," she huffs.
Victor's sunglasses have been put away since the sun was no longer being an aggressor. He furrows his brow and is about to explain but stops when someone approaches them. "Miss Wayne?" comes the now familiar voice of number 14 Douglas O'hara.
Victor tenses but Olivia distracts by taking his arm to hold as if she needed to be held up or keep him from running. "Um...O'hara right?" Olivia asks.
The boy nods and smiles. "Yes, I wanted to say sorry about earlier. We get into rituals for important games. Uh...I didn't mean to be rude." Doug rubs at the back of his neck then looks to Victor who freezes and glares. It's all he can manage in a panic. He really wished Olivia wasn't so approachable.
Olivia gives a warm smile. "It's okay. I really don't know much about sports so it has been one big learning experience for me. The way you throw that ball is insane!"
The boy's ears turn red as he looks down for a moment. "Um, thank you." There it is. More of Victor in this kid.
"We should get going," Victor states in a low voice.
"Before you go I...Fuck..." He's looking up at Olivia and looking at Victor who keeps locking eyes with him for a fraction of a second then looking off as if he's trying to ensure the area is secure. "You're adopted right?" She tilts her head but nods. "So am I...I..." He pauses and looks off then finally looks at Victor. "Can...I have a moment with my brother?"
She looks between the brothers. They were nearly the same height and both very nervous. "I can't really stray too far. He'll get so worried about me but I can just kinda...scoot off a little more than this." Before Victor can protest, pretend he's mistaken, she's kissed his cheek and scampered a ways off. Still within eye shot but not able to eavesdrop. She'll check her messages while they chat.
The brothers stand off an awkwardly far distance from one another. Victor rubs at the back of his neck before dropping onto the bleachers. "Hey, Dougie," he says with no certainty of how he's supposed to move from here.
Doug lets out an uneasy laugh and shakes his head. "No one calls me that anymore, except my mom."
Victor wants to say that their mother called him that too but he can't bring himself to say the words. A nod is all he can manage. "Right, you're not a kid anymore. Glad to see you kept with the baseball thing all these years."
"You've been tracking me for that long?" Doug asks.
"I never lost track of you, I just..." Victor sighs. He looked to Olivia who gave a small wave of her fingers. "I had to make sure you were okay."
Doug drops onto the bleacher. From Olivia's view she could see the resemblance in their posture, the way they fidget. She attempted to sneak a picture but Victor narrowed his eyes and she quickly fumbled with her phone!
"You know my parents tried to find you. I think I even ran into one of the vigilantes here and asked if they could help." Victor's right leg bounced. "Every few years I'd look you up to see if you were anywhere out there."
"Go ahead and ask, Doug," Victor says while staring at the grime of the concrete steps.
"Why did you leave me behind?" he asked, voice cracking for a moment. He clears his throat, straightens his back and looks across the field.
"To give you a chance," he explains. "We were waiting for so long. And while families would come in and get excited over meeting you or me they wouldn't take us both." Victor leaned forward, arms over his knees and ring covered fingers pressed together. "Leaving meant no more baggage for you."
"They would have taken you in too! All you had to do was wait!" he said, growing more upset by the moment. "I spent years thinking you didn't want me! Mom finally gave me the letter you wrote a few years back. 'To Dougie's future parents'"
"'He's still a bit of a cry baby and scared of the dark," Victor begins to recite. "He really likes broccoli. A mean kid threw away his bear so get him a new one and make sure it's black. Let him have lots of ice cream. Please take care of my little brother because I can't." The brothers are silent and Olivia watches on but can't stand to be a spectator any longer.
Victor inhales and tries to steel himself. He's played meeting up with his brother so many times in his head and it never felt right. "When I found out you got adopted I was excited. Dipped out on a group of street kids I was running with to see who took my brother. The O'Haras couldn't afford to take me in even if they wanted to. I'd run them into the ground with medical bills while they tried to figure out why my hair was falling out. It turned out better this way." Victor looked up as Olivia returned. She came to sit between the brothers while hugging Victor's arm. "You look so much like mom," Victor adds to break the silence.
"You look like dad, just not as freakishly tall!" The two chuckle and shake their heads. Doug looks over Olivia then grins and whistles. "My brother is dating Olivia Wayne. Wild! And don't try to bullshit me, man. Half the team could see you two making out. No one's bodyguard does that unless he wants to lose his job."
Olivia giggles while Victor fumbles a bit. "I try to keep a low profile when cameras come out."
"You're usually very good at it, I've no idea what had you slipping up today," Olivia said then received a yank into his side just to be tickled.
"Yeah, I wonder why!" he growls while she shrieks and lets off static.
Doug smiles. "Miss Wayne, please take care of my brother. He's got a bigger heart than I think he knows. It probably gets him into trouble." Olivia smiles and is about to speak but suddenly stops. Her head turns towards the direction of the parking lot.
"What's going on, Sunshine?" Victor asks as she stands. There's an agitated crowd forming somewhere. "Olivia?"
"Something is going on over there," she said while hurrying down the bleachers. A flood of screams came from beyond the baseball field's walls grabbing the brothers' attention as well.
"A fight probably broke out. Olivia!" She's hurrying to the gates leading out to where the cars were gathered and Victor was close behind her. Something doesn't feel right! "Olivia, wait!" he said while grabbing her hand and pulling her back. Beyond them a crowd that gathered to watch a fight between the teams was running to get clear. One player from the opposing team was slammed into a car hood unmoving. Three players from Gotham High are trying to hold back one of their own who is roaring obscenities at the knocked out kid. Another from out of town stepped up, the pitcher Victor remembers getting that second wind. He seemed ever so slightly bursting from his uniform and took advantage of the player being held back to punch him in his jaw. The boy is out falling limp in his team's arms. A real brawl breaks out and Doug rushes into the frey!
"Fucking shit!" Victor hissed then pulled Olivia towards the car.
"Wait! What about your brother?!" She assumed they were leaving but once they were at the muscle car Victor opened the trunk and then a hidden compartment he added some time ago. Olivia watched as he removed a handgun, checked the magazine then swapped it for another and tucked into the back of his waistband. A tranquilizer gun with its ammunition modified with a vastly reduced nerve toxin was stuffed into his jacket pocket.
"Stay with me but keep out of the way," he explained while slamming the trunk closed and handing her the keys. He wasn't going to entertain the idea of telling her to stay put. Not after how fast she ran out to see what happened. They hurried back to the fighting. Victor had to find his brother but the rampaging teenager was more important. The fight grew and then shrank rapidly as he thrashed at everyone around him. Including his own team. They were trying to hold him back while once spectators hurried to get out of the way! Victor navigated the crowd to get close and ensure he did not miss his shot. This was a mess! People were getting hurt and he needed to act fast.
Something white streaked past and crashed into the boy's jaw. He stumbled back, a baseball bounced off and landed on the ground. He was stunned and Victor prepared to take his shot. "Over here!" Doug roared over the chaos. The raging student looked his way and tore through the crowd at a blinding speed. Any in his path were thrown aside. Doug waited for him to clear any bystanders then took off for the baseball diamond they left. Victor followed, shoving through people. "Get somewhere safe, Liv!" he calls out and catches up to his brother. "Doug, what are you doing?!"
"I! I don't know!" he pants then heads for the fence. "But I'm gonna do it fast!"
Victor shakes his head and leads his brother back to the field. The lights have yet to come on as the sky darkens. "Get him out of sight and I can deal with him." The enraged student caught up faster than expected! How much venom was he on?! Through the gate the brothers made it to the spectating side of the field. Victor was just a moment too slow and was shoulder tackled into the fence. Doug turned, smelling a charge in the air and the world seemed to slow down as this now white eyed raging teenager bared down on him, one fist reared back.
A bolt of white light struck the teen, stopping him in his tracks with a surge of electricity strong enough to seize up his muscles and make him drop to his knees. Olivia stood just behind the now steaming boy breathing hard. Her glowing eyes faded back to normal as her hands shook. She did too much! She must have! He wasn't moving or making a sound. A groan came from the boy then a grunt as he stomped back to his feet and tried to advance on Doug again. Three high pitched noises came from past Olivia and the boy was struck by three tranquilizers up his back. He paused, grimaced and tried to walk forward before collapsing again, curling in on himself and twitching. Doug looked to Olivia then to Victor as he rolled his shoulders. "Kid hit like a freight train," he grunts then looks over at Olivia. "Thanks babe." She looks to be in shock but relaxes and takes Victor's hand. "Doug, are you okay?"
Doug's eyes were on the twitching boy who was still very conscious but otherwise unable to move. "Uh, yeah. What the fuck was that?" he asked as the two neared. Victor released Olivia's hand and looked over the kid to see what he had on him. Up one of his biceps were two patches. "What did you do to him?"
Victor held up the tranq gun by its trigger guard. "Nerve toxin. And this," said and points to one of the patches, "is like a super steroid. I knew something was off when they nearly cracked that fucking bat." The three darts in the kid's back were removed. Don't leave evidence behind.
"I've seen those before. Some guys at school were passing them around. I thought they were nicotine patches or something. What the fuck?!" Olivia was alarmed as well.
"Well they are not. Stay away from them because they're laced with something that turns people into well...that." Victor gestured to their mildly incapacitated friend on the floor still twitching, grunting and most of all breathing. "I thought I was over doing it with three but clearly not." Sirens could be heard and there were voices approaching. "Ah fuck, I'm not looking forward to getting arrested tonight. We gotta go, babe." He's back to his full height and Doug moves to follow them but Victor stops. "Probably best you don't follow us."
"He's not going to be able to explain what happened," Olivia explains.
Victor frowns. "Fuck!" he hissed. "Grab your shit and meet us at the entrance to the parking lot. Don't let anyone stop you." Doug nods rapidly then takes off to gather his things from the dugout and meet them in the parking lot. Olivia is pulled along hand in hand by Victor as they slip back to his car. The gun in his waistband is unloaded and put inside the glove compartment.
"We need to touch on why you have nerve toxin!" Olivia said with her hair sparking a little.
"I know a guy and I can't really get into all the reasons why right now," he explains as they pull through the parking lot. "Getting you and Doug home is my only priority. And thank you." Olivia sank into her seat. "You came in clutch and you probably saved his life." She perked up just a bit then looked out the window as she felt Doug approaching. He quickly climbed into the backseat with his gear and sat back, exhaling. "All set, now let's get the fuck out of here."
"How are you so calm about all of this, Vic?" he asked as they cruised through emergency vehicles.
"This is barely a blip compared to what I usually deal with." He caught Doug's gaze in the mirror. "It's best if you don't know."
"Uh, right. Miss Wayne, are you okay?"
"I will be. Not too fond of shocking people and I thought I used too much back there," she replies.
"That pitch I threw should have put him down. Those patches are fucking insane if he could just shrug that off!" Doug ran his hand through his combed back hair while watching the street signs. "Where are we going?"
"You're going home!" Victor states. "Both of you. There are people I need to call and the less you know the better." Olivia wasn't going to put up a fuss. She needed some time to decompress and maybe tell her dad what she saw tonight. If these patches were so dangerous he needed to know about them. There was no protest from Doug as well. He did something incredibly stupid because he felt it was the right thing to do. If not for Olivia and Victor he may have gotten hurt or worse.
"This has been one strange family reunion."
"It could be weirder," Olivia adds but does not elaborate leaving the brothers wondering. Douglas and his family lived two streets over from Arthur. A detail she does not point out. The brothers are quite awkward on their parting. Olivia smiles at Doug and asks for his phone. "Thank you, Dougie!" she sings then taps away. Doug's ears are turning red at hearing his nickname from such a sweet voice. Olivia hands back the phone and Victor's phone starts vibrating in his pocket. "Now you have each other's numbers! Don't be weird. Don't be strangers." Olivia hugs Doug around his neck and squeezes. "Nice meeting you!" She smiles at Victor then slips back into the car.
Victor looks over his brother trying to figure out what to say. "I'm happy you're doing okay, Vic," Doug says. "And uh, thanks for helping out today." Doug extended a hand then pulled it back before stepping up to hug his brother. Victor hesitates but accepts and reciprocates the embrace.
"Keep your head up and nose clean, little brother."
"Just when I was thinking of getting into coke." They both laugh and step away. Victor waves him off then slips back into the car. Olivia smiles at him. He sighs, turns and kisses her lips. "Thanks babe, you're still going home." She puffed up her cheeks but accepted that he needed space to do work.
Outside Wayne Manor Olivia leaned into Victor. "Are you sure you're okay?" she asked while trying to inspect him. "That was a pretty gnarly hit you took."
"I've been through worse," he explains. That doesn't make her feel any better. "I'll call you when I can. Hopefully just late enough to interrupt." She narrows her eyes as her hair sparks. With a smirk he kissed her then sent her on her way. He has information to relay to Red. Olivia wants to inform her dad about something that may have escaped the Batfamily's notice.