Gregory Silas Hunty.

Oh, the man he was. At least, it would be easier to know who he was if the man didn't drop off the map for several years and only reappear to the public but as a dead man with never seen before paintings worth millions. At least, his niece was enjoying the benefits of labor, nothing wasted, ey?

Fortunately for Red Robin, said niece bought the man's secret house (more like mansion) and had not moved anything out from it, apart from his paintings. Shiana Hunty had claimed to be willing to be very helpful and open to investigation in public, however, in private she made it almost impossible to investigate the case any further. Much to the police and Bats annoyance. Red Robin found out that some higher up police officials had been off to try and close the case early so he had to complete his investigation sooner than he planned in order not to lose any mysteriously vanishing evidence.

The house was in an isolated area surrounded by trees and bushes, just outside of main Gotham. Why was the man found dead in a motel far away from here and not in his own home was a mystery Tim hoped to solve at a later date. Sneaking into the house was easy. In fact, everything until Red made his way into the master bedroom and to the closet where he spotted a safe was super easy. He picked up the small but slightly weighty safe and placed it on the bed. He was able to get into the safe without much stress but it was what was inside that troubled him. It was a black box with a screen at the top. It lit up unexpectedly when he picked it up, displayed a green circle which appeared to be a clock counting down clockwise till the green circle completed its full revolution and completely disappeared. Finally, the screen went a blank neon green and did nothing to respond to Red Robin's touching and probing.

"Red Robin, status report," Oracle could be heard saying from the comms. Red put a hand to his com and replied.

"It seems that I may have run into something weird," Red replied.

"Accessing your camera feeds in a sec. Alright, done," Oracle said. "Hmm. This is familiar,"

"To what…" he began then he remembered the picture Barbara sent to the batchat about her computer screen at the library. "Ah… don't tell me those kids are actually involved in Gregory's life too," he said exasperated.

"I'm starting to think that everything going on recently might somehow be connected to those little delinquents," Oracle said. Her sigh could be heard loud and clear through the comms.

"Hm. You mean B's still missing, huh? Would the kids actually do something to him if they did have him?" Red said as he continued his inspection of the tablet for more information.

"I honestly don't know. The older kid, Danny, seems very nice from the reports and the in person meeting I had with him a while ago. The girl though… I'm not too sure. It's hard to get a read on her. Plus, it's highly possible Danny is just faking his personality to gain some sort of social advantage. I really don't know," Oracle stated.

"Hmm. It's hard to tell myself without meeting in person. He did lie about the emancipation thing," Red Robin said in conversation.

"Yup, I knew he lied about the emancipation thing. It was written all over his face and I indeed confirmed it was a lie at first but when I checked it out a couple of hours later, bam! All files related to the kids magically showed up in the system and now their story mysteriously came true," Oracle ranted.

"Yeah, I looked over the files and they look legit. If we didn't know that there was no information on them before we'd have thought all their data was real and had been there for years. We should add possible tech whizz to the kids' profiles," Tim said, eliciting a chuckle from Oracle.

"Well, if they were tech whizzes, I'm willing to hire. The information here is very good. Even B was impressed with what he saw," Oracle said, exasperated.

Tim was about to say something before the screen flashed black and green violently.

"What the…!" Red said before nearly dropping the box while Oracle screamed a "Woah".

"Unidentified user detected. Override code not used within the set time limit. Initiating self destruct protocol. 40, 39, 38…" a motioned voice came from the screen and a green numbered timer appeared, counting down from forty.

"Oh shit…" before Red Robin could finish that exclamation the rooms windows shuttered closed with a metal plating and the young vigilante could hear the door shut close with a click.

"Red, I'm getting you out of there. Nightwing is on route. Patching him through to you!" Oracle said with much alarm. Red nodded in affirmation. He placed the box on top of the safe and began to pace around the room, trying to figure what to do next. Eventually, he made his way to the bedroom door, checked the doors and realized it was way too solid to break down. Dammit, he should've noticed its make once he made his way in. Now that oversight would cost him dearly. An idea came to him so he tried to scan the room again with x-ray and infrared to see if he missed any hidden passages in the walls or floors he missed from his initial check.

Unfortunately, the room seemed clean. No hidden passages or room to be seen or maybe they're behind a well placed lead wall. The vents were too small for him to climb through, so that plan went out the window (lucky plan at least it could leave). There were no cameras in the room too but that didn't help him at the moment. His final idea was to mix something up from his utility belt to cause a chemical reaction strong enough to eat through the metal obstructing the windows. He wasn't sure if he had much time though.

"30, 29, 28, 27…."

Well, what other choice did he have?

"I'm almost there Red, hang on," Nightwing said from his ear. Red Robin gulped and prayed.

Just when he was about to do what he just planned, his wrist communicator beeped and he stared at a disembodied head of a glowing green screen which had the face of a pale young greenish blue girl with short black hair and white hair streaks in several rows of her hair. Her red eyes stared back at him in childish wonder. She looked to be about five or so and if Red Robin wasn't in such a predicament right at the moment he would've cooed at how cute she was.

"Hello! I'm Tass! I'm here to assist!" Tass said cheerily from his comm. What the fuck…? What was Tass short for? Tassandra?

"Umm Oracle…," Red Robin said slowly.

"I see her too. She's all over my computer screen," Oracle responded, sounding astonished.

"Put me near the box! I can help!" Tass said with a pout. "Or you're going die!" she said with an eerie chuckle. Red was suspicious of her even more.

"15, 14, 13, 12…"

But he was willing to take the chance.

He did as she said and placed his watch next to the safe and almost immediately, to his relief, the box stopped counting down and the screen turned into a blank green screen. The windows shuttered the door clicked open. He picked up his watch to see a cheery Tass, with a lollipop in her mouth. Her eyes were twinkling at him now but her missing body made him still weary of her.

"Thank you," Red Robin said with a gulp. Whoever she was, she at least saved his life so he should be grateful for that. "Who exactly are you?" he asked cautiously. She pouted at the question and eyed him, looking annoyed. Her lollipop disappeared from her mouth into the green oblivion.

"I AM TASS. T.A.S.S. TECHNICAL ADVANCED SYNCHRONIC SYSTEM! I TOLD YOU MY NAME BEFORE!" she exclaimed then procedded to pout angrily. Kinda reminded him of Damian in one of his moods.

Cute.

Wait! Not cute! She was an unknown and more than likely a threat or a villain. But could a threat look that cute?

Yes. Yes they could.

Damian. Remember Damian?

"I'm very sorry Tass. Can I call you Tassie? You can call me anything you like," Red said, hoping to placate her anyway he could. It worked and she beamed at him with a big smile and star filled eyes.

"Awww," Barbara cooed. He'd forgotten she was still patched through.

"Nightwing, are you still en route?" Red asked but was met with static sounds as a reply.

"Only you and the pretty glasses lady are connected to my isolated network. All other persons are kept out for our safety," Tass informed them.

"Oh. Thanks," Oracle said, Red could tell she was blushing at the compliment.

"Oh and you should leave now. A silent alarm was sent to the new owner of the house. Some lady named Shania Hunty. She's contacting the police on her cell right now," Tass said, still with a cheer in her voice.

"Ah. Thanks Tassie," Red Robin placed the box on the bed then closed the safe and placed it back in the closet. Once he secured the box to his body, he quickly slipped out of the room and eventually made his way several out of the mansion and to his bike hidden in the foliage of bushes surrounding the mansion.

The ride back to main Gotham was filled with Red Robin and Oracle trying to probe answers from Tass but she always pouted and rolled her eyes when she didn't want to answer a particular question. Which was a lot.

"Okay. But you have to tell us, aren't your parents going to be upset that you are here with us and not in bed right now?" Oracle asked her cautiously. Tass let out a huff.

"Oh please! Daddy said I could do whatever I want. As long as I advance my programming," Tass answered. Her lollipop was back in her mouth and she was licking it furiously when she wasn't talking. Programming? So she was what? Some kind of AI? That explained a lot. But he had never seen something as life like as her before though. She looked like a real child playing with a green screen and makeup. Maybe that explained her unusual features. Probably her creator set up her avatar to look this way for some unusual reason. Still, why a kid though? Did Tim have to put someone on a list?

"Your dad? Do we know him? Is he the one that sent you here?" Red Robin asked. Tass stopped lickeing her lollipop and hummed like she was thinking of what to say.

"Well, daddy gave me as a gift to the king and I am to help the king and princess with all their future endeavors. You don't know daddy though. Pity," Tass replied. Her head was now spinning at three sixty degrees, her hair following suit in whirls. So this daddy was most definitely her programmer. Red wondered what exactly she was made for.

"Tassie, the king and the princess, did they look like young kids with black hair and blue eyes? The boy older and the girl younger?" Oracle suddenly asked over the comms.

"Uh huh. They look like that sometimes. King Phantom is very attached to his human side. Daddy always rants about it. I can't say much for the princess though," Tass answered. She had stopped spinning and her eyes were now looking like animatited swirls indicating her dizziness. Interesting.

Hold on, King Phantom? Princess? And that description from Oracle…. Danny and Ellie? Human side? So what was the other side?

"What does your daddy do, Tassie?" Oracle asked. This made the girl return to her normal visage and pipe up happily.

"Daddy is the best! Apart from Phantom, of course. Daddy is the Overlord of Technology. The Master of Machinery and future development. He is the great and powerful Ghost, Nicolai Technus!" Tass proclaimed with much excitement. Tim just blinked several times in surprise. What the hell did he just hear. Overlord? Master? Ghost? What's a ghost doing with tech? He thought those two didn't mix properly. Wait, he remembered the wet haired girl from the rings that climbed through TVs but that was fiction and should not be included in this situation.

"You said you have to follow the directives if the king and princess right? Can you tell us what those are? If possible, please," Barbara said, clearly unphased by the little AI's proclamation.

"It's to assist the king and princess with whatever endeavors they need me for. Oh and to also advance my system as much as possible," Tass replied. Endeavors, hmm? That's probably how the kids were able to add themselves into the system cleanly. They weren't tech whizzes. No, they were some sort of royalty and had a tech whizz on their payroll.

"I see. How did you get to us Tassie? Wait, I mean, why us?" Barbara asked the little girl.

"Well, the king put me in one of the devices at the library and told be to learn and blend in and help them with some tasks. I discovered you, Oracle from the library," Tass answered, she was starting to look bored with the conversation now. Tim hoped she wouldn't start pouting again. Or maybe he did, he wouldn't not want to see that adorable face again.

"How? I didn't connect any of my work devices to the internet shared in the library nor did I connect them to a computer used in there," Oracle asked, she sounded really intrigued for the answer. Tim really wished shed tried harder to deny she workwd at the library but even he could tell the gig was up. He made a left now, he had been driving straight for a while now with luckily, no police encounter. He could just about see main Gotham from a few miles away.

"Hehehe. You cannot stop me, the daughter of the great Technus with such inferior means," Tass said like she was copying someone's pattern of speech. How grown up. "I simply made my way into your phone through the charging port in your office. I do not need WiFi or direct with your computers to make my way anywhere. All i need is a connection and I'm in. I traveled through the charging port of the computers and made my way into every devices plugged into the library's power supply undetected. It was honestly a piece of cake," Tass boasted. Her nose looked pointy with pride.

"So you're the one who made my computer screen go green?" Oracle asked, sounded very impressed.

"Yeah, well, I was just introduced to a new sysytem and almost made myself known. But that was one mistake and I have learnt from it!" Tass said a bit shyly. Tim tried to hold his chuckle at her expense.

"So where your dad, sweety?" Tim asked and was met with a cute response of Tass's wide smile at the nickname.

"He's not here. Couldn't come," Tass answered. Red Robin filed that away for later.

"Tass, I hope I'm not treading too much on harmful territory but I do have to ask? Do you understand what you are? I'm really wondering because I think you are magnificent," Barbara asked the child carefully. Tass rolled her eyes before replying.

"Uh huh. I know what I am. A ghost," Tass answered and was met with silence from both vigilantes.

"Excuse me!?" Red Robin blurted out in surprise. Nearly lodging control of his bike and finally gaining control of it at thenlast second.

"Can you repeat that?" Barbara asked, sounding shocked.

"I said I'm a ghost," Tass replied flatly.

"Ghost huh. So those are real huh? I mean there's Deadman but I haven't seen him and…," Barbara was muttering to herself.

"Uh huh. I'm a ghost, daddy's a ghost, all sixty four of my siblings are ghost and the king and princess are ghosts," Tass said, ending with a little yawn. Was she… tired? Can 'ghosts' get tired? Maybe she was meta that thinks she's a ghost or something.

"Aww. Are you tired, Tassie?" Oracle asked with a soft voice and Tass nodded.

"Yup! I'm not advanced enough to make my own ectoplasm and power myself up. I need to go on standby on all alternative systems and head back to my core control with the King for a recharge. See you later," Tass said with a big yawn.

"Wait!" Tim exclaimed, causing Tass's eyes to widen in shock at his sound. "Ahem! I'm sorry for alarming you but I was curious… you won't tell your, uh, king about our identities. Would you?" he asked hopefully.

"Nope! I met this really cool lady and she said not to expose her knights for the time being. I didn't want to obey some stranger but she promised to show me some good tech so now we have a deal," Tass answered, finishing with a nod.

"Her knights? Can you tell us who she is?" Oracle asked.

"Uh huh. She said she's called Lady Gotham. Ok I gotta go to sleep now. See you later Reddy and Pretty lady," Tass answered before his creen shuttered back into its original state with all his apps and their icons.

"Who the hell is Lady…?" Tim was boit to say before he was cut off by a distressed Nightwing.

"Red Robin! Oracle! Come in! Are you still with me?" he demanded from the comms.

"Pipe it down, wing. We can head you loud and clearly now," Oracle said with a heavy sigh.

"Oh! It's just, I've beent ring to get in contact with you for the past twenty minutes but no contact. Are you joth alright? I'm still on my way to Red, are you injured? I'm in the jet and have a medbay prepared," Nightwing answered with a tone sounded like ultimate relief but he was still anxious about Red Robin, it seemed.

"I'm fine, Nightwing. I was saved by an unfamiliar party," Red replied in hopes to calm the overprotective bird.

"A very cute one," Oracle said and chuckled.

"Oh, I sense there's more to this, huh?" Nightwing said with a humorous voice but still sounding a bit anxious.

"We'll debrief you at the cave. Know where B is?" Red Robin said.

"Nope. Honestly, Alfred's about to lose it. Make sure to come back safely to ease the old man's troubles," Nightwing said before releasing a sigh.

"I will," Red Robin said as he made his way through main Gotham and en route to the Bat Cave. It was a long night and he needed to finish up his report on-time. He had a lot to ruminate over and could just imagine the stress that was going to bring. As he made his way closer and closer to the cave, he felt a cold sensation at the back of his neck welcoming him back and he relaxed a bit. Maybe he could not think about the future stress for a while and enjoy the cool night ride.

Bruce stared wildly at the young glowing boy before him. He looked to Danny to see if the kid had heard what was whispered to him but the boy had gone back to his original position at the wall, had a seat and was busy smiling at a sickenly neon green phone in his hand. The supposed 'Ghost King' gave no indication that he was even listening to them.

"Don't worry. He doesn't know. Lady Gotham doesn't want him to know for now," William assured him. His tone was even lower than before and he looked like he was holding a laugh like he knew something that Bruce didn't. Again, there was that person again. 'Lady Gotham'. Who in the world was that? Another villain? A ….ghost? Maybe some sort of hero who had taken the city's name as their moniker. Whoever it was, Bruce could only conclude that he was compromised. Maybe even the rest of his family. To be frank, who knew?

"Why?" Bruce asked. He wasn't even sure what he was asking. Why does this Lady Gotham not want the Ghost king to know? Why not tell the Ghost King of his identity if William was now a ghost and this Danny was his king? Why was William even telling Bruce that he knows his identity? Why was this mysterious lady not here to pass the message on to him? Why? Why? Why? He really needed to start compartmentalizing his situation right now. He had a feeling he was being influenced by his current child form, not being able to think straight and fully like his adult self would.

William just shrugged and offered Bruce a smile. Bruce just understood that the little ghost had an idea of the questions he had but was not going to answer any of them for the time being so Bruce just sighed in defeat.

"Can… can I take you to where I'm buried?" Willaim asked Bruce shyly. Bruce took the other kid's hand and gave him a reassuring smile.

"Of course. Anything for you, Billie," Bruce said. William gave him a wide smile and suddenly they weren't at the abandoned building they were in before. Bruce looked around and noticed that the Danny boy had come along with them somehow but held his tongue to question him at that moment.

He looked around more and noticed there were graves surounded by small light glowing figures which seemed to be floating around each other with no ryhme or rhythm.

"Those are light shades," Danny said to Bruce as he came closer to the pair again. "They're the spirits of the kids secretly buried here that couldn't fully form into ghosts but also couldn't pass on," he explained further.

"And where is here exactly?" Bruce asked, not even bothering to hide his curiosity at the moment. The place seemed familiar but he couldn't exactly place where.

"Remember the map Bruce. Remember this place? A small island right next to Gotham? We lewrnt about this in class a while ago. Well a while for me I guess, hehe" Willliam probed Bruce like a teacher trying to encourage a kid to get to the right answer. Bruce wracked his brain then studied surroundings a bit more.

Super old, decaying trees. Some red flowers he didn't recognize but felt he should, growing wildly around the area. Some graves left unmarked while a few others looked so old that the tombstones had serious chip damage to them. Somewhere close to Gotham. And suddenly it came back to him.

"The Witches' Cemetry," Bruce said in a whisper. A very old cemetery uses to bury the dead bodies of 'witches' that seemed to not decay or burn at the stake. Some other women suspected to be 'witches' were just unfairly buried alive here, skipping the trial part altogether. The total number of women buried here couldn't truly be comfirmed but it is estimated to be in the hundreds. It was later repurposed to bury some elites with fascination with the supernatural but due to its location from the mainland was eventually abandoned and said to be too cursed to be used as anything else. Penguin and some other people had tried to use here as a base of operations but had all abandoned the place stating various reasons to convenience to saying the place was downright cursed. Perfect for body disposal. Perfect for missing persons. Perfect for missing children.

Bruce turned quickly to William and grabbed his shoulders and calmly as he could with his whirling mind.

"Billie, who… who did this to you and the rest of you?" Bruce asked. Damn, this childish body was making him less calm than he usually was. He needed to vet a hold of himself and try not to scare the kid. Bit William only gave him a warm ample and touched the under of his upper arm Ina attempt to comfort Bruce.

"It… it was Mr Burnley," William said and when he realized Bruce was trying to remember who that was, he answered further. "The new class teacher of the class next to us,"

"No wait. I remember him now. He was a substitute teacher for a little while before becoming a full time class teacher at our school," Yes, Bruce really remembered the man now. He was an average height man that had a weird walk but always had jokes that made the other kid's laugh uncontrollably. Bruce remembered the man being very social to parents and teachers alike. Teachers always mentioned how smart he was and kind and lovely to be around. Bruce really didn't care much about that. He was focused on behaving himself at school then to get a good christmas present from Santa, around that time.

So, very social, smart, charismatic and loved by most if not all. Burnley was far from a suspect in the eyes of his peers and that of the law. Bruce remembered the man had helped search for some of the missing kids at one point when the numbers had hit twenty, the search party probably not knowing they were searching the city with the actual perpetrator. Bruce felt his stomach tighten. He knew Gotham was full of sickos, he had been working on this city for years but this… this was top on the list of insane.

"Why?" was all that could come out of Bruce's small mouth as his grip on William's shoulder tightened. Willaim bit his lower lip and didn't answer for a while.

"He said we were sacrifices. He said he needed to keep trying and trying to get what he wants. Bruce, you have to stop him. He's back. He always collects four of us at a time and he's looking for his first one. You have to help us Bruce!" William said in a plea to Bruce, his little form glowing brighter and brighter. For some reason, Bruce's mind froze up and then turned all muddled and confused.

He was scared. What did he want Bruce to do? - He wasn't Batman, he was still seven - He couldn't think of how to help - Maybe if he asked Alfred, maybe he would help. But Alfred was only a butler, what could he do? He could do a lot but what could he do? Can't Billie go to the police? Is there a reason he's asking Bruce? Their friends but what could Brice do to help? He wasn't Batman - he wasn't a hero - he wasn't a - he needed his mom and dad.

Where ARE THEY?

He was snapped out of his inner mulling when a hand grabbed his hands and turned him towards themself. It was Danny. He was kneeling now and looking up at Bruce confused like he wasn't sure of something. He cupped Bruce's face in a familiar manner and swept a hand in his hair, soothingly.

"Are… Are you ok? Look at me. Follow my breathing and try to calm down," Danny said before demonstrating exaggerated breaths for Bruce to follow. Bruce did so and immediately found himself calming down as his breathing went back to normal pace. Still, his brain was a bit muddled and he couldn't quite figure out who he was. He pressed his face deeper into the familiar palm and relished in its warmth. He stared into the blue, familiar eyes that reminded him of his own eyes and felt the comfort in them.

"Listen to me Bruce. You're Bruce Wayne. Billionaire, philanthropist, a so called playboy," Danny started saying and Bruce chuckled at that last one. "You're the father to many lovely kids which you have helped foster and grow into the fine people they are today. You donate to charities, build shelters and hire the less fortunate in an attempt to heal the wound of the city even though the city has put wounds in you. I don't know you personally but I know you are just a kind person that's trying to do what's right in this world of cheats and hacks. Remember who you are Bruce. Don't get lost in your own mind and come back to us. Come back to your family,"

Bruce blinked several times as he felt his muddled mind begin to clear up and he could finally remember who he was. He was Bruce Wayne. Philanthropist, playboy, a so called playboy. But he was also the night, vengeance, he was Batman and he will avenge Willaim and the rest of the victims of Burnley.

"Thank you. Danny," Bruce said, giving the other kid a small smile. Danny nodded with a smile of his own, got up and ruffled Bruce's hair with no protest from him. Danny took a few steps back and let the other two boys continue their conversation.

"I'm sorry Bruce," Willaim said in a small voice. He was probably ashamed of how his ghostly powers affected Bruce but Bruce didn't mind. He was still a kid after all, even if almost two decades had passed.

"It's alright Billie. I understand. There's no need to apologize," Bruce said in an effort to reassure the boy. William hugged him tightly, slightly lifting Bruce off the ground.

"Okay, okay. That's enough William. Free the poor guy," Danny said with a few claps, indicating William to free Bruce. William did so then rubbed the back of his head shyly. Suddenly, William's glowing form started to flicker in and out of sight, causing Bruce to startle.

"Ah! I have to rest now Bruce. I think I spent to much energy or something. I don't think I can hang on much longer," William said. He's eyes started to look more tired and he was strating to flicker in and out even more violently than before.

"Alright. Rest now William," Bruce said in a low but fond tone.

"Bye Brucie! Sick Batman on Burnley if you can!" Willaim said and finally flickered out of sight.

"Bye Billie. I will," Bruce said softly. He heard footsteps walk closer to him and looked to see it was Danny who was now in front of him, a hand stretched out for Bruce to grab on.

"Ready to go?" Danny asked. Bruce looked around and saw the ight shades flicker out of sight one after the other.

"Yeah. I am," he said and grabbed on to Danny's hand. The boy held him firmly and they flew away.

They made it back to Wayne Tech to the sight of commotion in front of the building. There were police cars and news vehicles parked in front of the building.

"That must be for you, huh? Sorry for the kidnapping," Danny said embarrasedly. Bruce cracked a small smile at the kid and shook his head lightly. Suddenly, Danny face became serious and he stared down into Bruce's eyes. "Tell me Bruce. Have we met somewhere else before this before? Bruce scrunched his brows at that. He was sure hed never net this kid anywhere before.

"No. I don't think so," Bruce answered.

"Hmm. I see. Well, I better get you home and out of that form," Danny said and patted Bruce's shoulder a little harshly. Bruce's eyes squinted but he realized this was his chance to ask the kid what he was doing in Gotham and all before he was interrupted by a gasp behind him.

He turned to see Alfred staring at him and Danny, as the man walked closer to them cautiously. He had a horrified look on his face as he approached the pair, Bruce wasnt exactly sure why, maybe it was the fact that Bruce still looked like a kid, maybe not. He wondered when that would wear off. Once the man came closer, Bruce finally realized that Alfred was not looking at Bruce at all.

He was staring entirely at Danny.

What did that mean? Did he know Danny from somewhere? Maybe they've net before and probably not on good terms. Still Bruce couldn't put a pin on why.

"You…you're… you…" Alfred said and didn't finish.

"Alfred?" Bruce said, finally grabbing the older man's attention and causing said man to make another shocked face at Bruce's appearance.

"Master Bruce," the butler gasped as he ran towards Bruce to check him over. "Are you alright? Oh my, whatever happened to you?"

"It's alright. I…," Bruce began to explain as he turned to Danny and noticed the kid was gone.

Damn. There goes his answers for the day.

Charlie sat on her heels on the rug which was placed at the center of her room with maximum discomfort. Ellie sat across from her on Charlie's bed with both her arm and legs crossed as she observed the older girl carefully. Charlie did not dare move as the girl eyed her very form. The silence was stifling and was only interrupted from time to time by Ellie's undecipherable hmms and haas. Finally, Ellie let out a sigh while shaking her head.

"Do you know why I've been on your ass for the past couple of days, recently?" Ellie asked the poor girl in the rug. Of course, Charlie had no true idea what could possibly be going through that little menace's mind but she had her guess and decided to say it and not incur the little tyrant' wrath.

"Because I noticed what you did at the… museum?" Charlie said weakly. She refused to look away from the young girl's piercing blue eyes. At least, she could hope to save a little bit of her dignity by doing so. The younger girl huffed and Charlie couldn't help but shrink a bit at the action.

"I really don't give a damn about that. I would have wiped your memory later if i had to," Ellie said with a little hand wave. Charlie figured that wasn't the case. From what she'd seen the girl was powerful enough to indeed wipe her memory of the event and maybe snatch her necklace for keepsakes before leaving like she wasn't even there in the first place. Yes, the girl wanted something else, something Charlie couldn't even begin to guess what.

"Then… what is it you want?" Charlie asked meekly. She still looked into the other girl's eyes but she wasn't as confident as she was before. With a tilt to her head, Ellie's straight face cracked a wide grin, showing her perfectly white teeth which started to look a little too uncanny in her mouth.

"You reek of necromancy and death energy," Ellie answered to Charlie's shock.

"Excuse me?" Charlie nearly shouted to show her surprise. She had to keep it down so her mom doesn't hear her when she gets back and thinks she's sneaking people in without permission.

"You heard me. I noticed that ghosts don't come here. The energy is all over your house too. Most especially that necklace," Ellie said then pointing at the necklace around Charlie's neck to reinforce her point. Charlie clutched it unconsciously as she scrunched up her brows while in thought.

Death energy? Was her house cursed? Maybe a secret graveyard, like some kind of hidden crime scene? Haunted or maybe…. Her eyes widened when something came to mind but she needed to ask questions to confirm her suspicion.

"Do you think… that this death energy could be caused by something like…," Charlie took a pause and swallowed because with what she was about to say, if confirmed, she could already tell who was responsible for this whole situation. "...Something like magic?"

"Bingo!" Ellie said with a snap of her finger. Her smile came back in full force and she seemed pleased like a teacher who had finally gotten their student to understand something. Charlie really couldn't puzzle why she had such an expression. She filed that away for later.

"But… death magic? That's something like necromancy" Charlie said, puzzled.

"Duh! It means that someone's grangran was pushing the boundaries between life and death. I'm sure you know who's," Ellie said snarkily, confirming Charlie's earlier suspicions. So that was her grandmother's main practice? That basically confirmed Florence's half speculations on Charlie's grandmother. A necromancer. How good was she then? And oh lord! She hoped there were no dead bodies in the house nor something. She wondered how that would be explained to her mother.

Speaking of her mother, the woman could care less what her grandma was up to. She was the initial owner of the grimoire and was planning on selling it until Charlie had to beg then guilt trip and then eventually pay her off with most of her savings just to keep the book. Her mother had always seemed to be at odds with her grandmother. Charlie never knew the reason why but she could tell it was something intense as Mrs Ramirez did not even shed a single tear at her own mother's funeral.

"Well, it's possible she wasn't actually a necromancer, however, with this much death energy surrounding us, she probably was," Ellie shrugged with a grin. Charlie squinted at her. It was time to get some answers of her own.

"How do you know all this? What… what even are you?" she finally asked the girl but was met with a petulant scoff. Ouch.

"Don't think too hard sweetheart. I'll tell you when you're ready or if you'll ever be. For now, let's just say I'm something of a … death specialist with some mastery in magic. Different than a necromancer if you knew all the frilly little details," Ellie explained with a small smile. Good, at least she hadn't gotten pissed off and turned Charlie's room into a garbage dump.

"Ok. Got it," was all Charlie could answer the haughty child before her. Frankly, she was surprised her grandma never told her about all this. In fact, she never had an inquiry into the old woman's main practice. Her thoughts floated over to Florence again. She remembered how she said homo magi could sense each other and wondered if the feeling of awe she'd gotten from the Club President disguised the magic power she was to supposedly feel from her. She always thought the other girl's light brown hair was too shiny for a normal human and wondered if Florence added some kind of special magic cream for that or something.

"Alright!" Ellie said with new enthusiasm as she clapped her hands together. This caused Charlie to sit up much more upright to listen to her. "I've made my decision. I'll teach you two useful spells if we successfully get that book from the summoning" Ellie announced.

"Really!?" Charlie exclaimed, nearly getting up from her seat before correcting herself back into her original position. Her eyes went wide with excitement and anticipation before she was completely snapped out of it by Ellie's tutting.

"Don't get too excited now. We still have to get the book first. If my suspicions are right, this city is in bigger danger than I thought," Ellie said with a look that Charlie had never seen on the younger girl before. For a second, the girl looked like a worried little normal child but only for a second before her confident demeanor found its way back.

"I'm curious," Charlie began to ask. She was waiting for Ellie's permission to continue speaking.

"Go on," Ellie permitted.

"So, I noticed you are very good with… your powers and stuff and I was just…," Charlie took a breath and continued. "I was wondering why you don't go for the book all guns and blazing," she finished.

"Oh. Well, my brother doesn't eat me causing too much of a scene without him around. Plus, there's a special condition needed to be met to get that book in my grasp," Ellie responded.

"Okay… so what's the condition?" Charlie asked, hopefully for an answer. Once Ellie rolled her eyes, she knew she wasn't getting one or at least, a good one.

"You'll see after your amateur summoning hour and once you get the book to me," Ellie replied. Charlie sighed. Well, at least she tried.

After a while, Ellie permitted her to sit at her desk and do her homework (okay, mom) while the younger girl took a nap on Charlie's own bed. Great.

She was working on some matrices before she heard Ellie say something.

"Charlie," Ellie said in a softer voice. This caused Charlie to immediately get up and head to her. "Come closer," Ellie said and Charlie leaned forward even more, a hand placed at the end of her mattress for some support. Ellie was still lying on the bed, on top of the blanket, facing the ceiling and not even looking at the older girl.

"What's the problem, Ellie?" Charlie asked expectantly. Bad dream? A confession? Maybe she needed some sanitary products or something, Charlie was willing to provide.

"Get me something to eat. I hunger," Ellie said with a dead serious tone after her eyes snapped to Charlie's.

Charlie had an internal scream. Go's, this brat was so infuriating.

"Alright. I'll get you the shepherd's pie my mom made yesterday night," Charlie said and began her walk to her door.

"And add some fruits too. I know you got some. If you spit in my food, I'll know and you'll know I know. So do be careful, Charlie. And make sure to come back quickly," Ellie said with a more annoyingly cheery voice. "We still need to finish our plan to get the book from this… Florence," she mentioned the girl's name with what could only be described as disdain. That, for some reason, really pissed Charlie off.

Charlie couldn't help but bang the door as she left the room but she was responded to with the other girl's loud cackling.

Sigh, the things she did for survival.

She wondered what other Gothamite's are suffering in this kind of condition such as her. That was if there was any at all. Her phone buzzed in her pocket. It was a text from her mom telling her that she'll be back home late. This caused Charlie to sigh again. Seems like it would just be her and her little friend for a while.

With a slump to her shoulders, she trudged her way to the kitchen to fetch her 'boss' meal.

"You are sure there's two of them?" the man clad in full black asked her as he stood at attention, awaiting her response.

Rita took a long drag of her cigarette before releasing several puffs and then shook her head with a wry smile. She'd been following the little punks for days and was honestly starting to get bored of it. She'd much prefer to get on with a new project, thank you very much.

"How many a times do I have ta tell ya? Yeah, there's two of them. I was able ta ward off some of the magic they used ta confuse ppl and follow 'em around for a while," Rita explained, completely annoyed. She was tired of repeating the same thing over and over again to the poor schmuck. He was lucky Ra's paid his people well. Or maybe she was the lucky one because if she tried to put a bullet in this man's head, he'd sever her hand off cleanly before she could even realize it.

"Their place of stay?" the assassin asked her, causing her to frown.

"I couldn't figure that out. Their movements r' sporadic and tis hard ta follow 'em around, especially at night," Rita stated with a shrug.

"I'll need more for the Demon Head if you still want to keep doing business with us," the assassin said even more coldly than usual. That was a sign to Rita that he was getting much more serious and may even cut her down if he found her information useless.

"I do have somethin' of more substance," Rita said as she tossed her cigarette on the ground and stomped it.

"Go on," the man said cooly and was met with Rita's huff.

"I'm runnin' outta cigarette money. Lord knows I need my cigarettes to do my job more… uh…. efficiently," she stated with a drawl. The assassin huffed this time, reached into his cloth and threw a wad of cash at her. She didn't need to count. It was most definitely over $2000 awaiting for her to count and spend.

"Go on," he repeated and Rita didn't dawdle.

"So one of 'em kids, the younger girl, has been spotted with some school girl for the last couple of days. I have the girl's information, here," Rita said as she pulled out a light brown envelope from her coat and handed it to the man. He took it courteously and slipped it into his uniform. How he was gonna move around with that in his attire, Rita couldn't even comprehend. Whatever works, she guessed.

"And the boy?" The man asked once he adjusted his clothes back to how they were before.

"Has not been spotted for a while now. He's rarely seen without the girl," Rita informed the man and he nodded with what seemed to be satisfaction. Good, Rita was good to go for another couple of days.

"You will be contacted in a couple of days for more information. Don't lose sight of the kids. If you are to approach the kids necessarily, do so in a polite manner. No hostility. These are the words of the Ra's," the assassin said before disappearing to thin air much to Rita's surprise. She was now alone at some old abandoned parking lot with the Gotham's night chill to keep her company.

"Bah! That shit never gets old," she said before turning to walk away back home but was stopped abruptly as she bumped into someone. She took a few steps back and rubbed her aching nose before looking at the man shed bumped into.

"Hello there. Spell Devil here," the weirdo in a dark costume and hair sticking out from the sides of the face of his ridiculous costume.

Wait.

Spell Devil?

She remembered he was just recently arrested and broke himself out from police custody much to everyone's confusion. She only knew about him because she knew the little twerps were somehow involved in botching this guy's heist plans at the museum the other day. This man was dangerous and she needed to get away from there immediately. She reached for her gun in her coat but was stopped by some weird chant that came from the other man's mouth.

Dammit, it was a spell. She was careless. This woman was a magic user.

She felt her mind begin to fuzz before the man began speaking. Her hands dropped to her side as she stared into the man's face, blankly.

"Now now. I'll be needing that little brain of yours for a while. Play nice and I probably won't kill you once I'm through with you. And oh! I'll be taking that from you. This will help with my endeavors. Thanks a lot!" Spell Devil said with a nasty grin and pulled out her newly gained cash from her coat. She cursed him internally.

"So, tell me everything you know about the little juvenile tourists and what that has to do with the league of shadows," Spell Devil asked, his grin even nastier than before. From the way her mouth was struggling to resist speaking, she knew it would only be a matter of time before she spilled all she knew and got on the radar of the league for being a traitor.

Fuck, what the hell was she going to do?