Sora Al Ghul

Grayson stopped several feet from them, pain flashing across his face. Only intimate familiarity allowed Peizhi to catch the answering pain on Sora’s face before it was hidden behind a mask of false unconcern. She took the glass of champagne Sora passed her automatically.

“Doubting his senses? Wondering how you’re alive?” Peizhi offered, resting her free hand on Sora’s shoulder. Mine, she hissed at Grayson mentally. She’s one of mine and nobody is allowed to take her from us. Give up before you get in over your head.

“And here he comes,” Peizhi whispered into Sora’s ear, watching Grayson from the corner of her eye as he started walking toward them. “You ready for this?”

Peizhi squeezed Sora’s shoulder as a gesture of comfort, and put herself between her friend and the danger Grayson represented. Time to find out whether she’d deserved the boss’ faith or not.

Denial.  That was the first thing that rose in him, hard and sharp, causing him to reel his emotions back in for a moment, smiling at one of the stewards that offered him more Champagne.  He used the moment that he was looking away to school his expression a little, soothing guests with a winning smile as he made his way towards the two women.  However doubts rose in his mind, nearly making him falter as he strode towards them; what if it wasn’t her?  What if it was just a trick of his mind?  He wasn’t certain he was ready for the loss again.

There were multiple options open to him at this point, most of which he quickly dismissed as general bad ideas.  Dick had to force himself to remember that he was in public, that he couldn’t make a scene, couldn’t make someone uncomfortable even if his gut instinct was to run up to her and wrap his arms around her.  There were few times in which he envied Bruce, but that moment, the moment in which he was warring with his emotions, was one of them; if only he had the same control that the older man did.  If only…

He was getting closer and, as he did so, he inhaled and exhaled slowly, taking another quick glance at the woman who’d screamed ‘Stephanie’ at him from before.  Brown hair, cut short, and the way she held herself was… It wasn’t right, and yet in a way it stillwas.  He’d never known Steph to be a master of subterfuge, but she’d been gone for so long that he couldn’t help but wonder…  But then, if it wasn’t her, everything would make so much sense, but there was so much of Stephanie on this woman’s face that he couldn’t help but finally approach them, winning smile in place.

“Good evening, ladies.” he looked to the one his mind kept repeatedly labeling as ‘Steph’, then to the one in the orange dress, forcing himself to give them both equal amounts of his attention; his mind was still in turmoil but he did his best to act as cheerful as he could manage. “I hope you’re both enjoying yourselves.”

Sora gave her friend a warm, fond, smile when her hand closed over her shoulder. She could practically feel Peizhi's vehement reaction to his nearness, refusing to allow herself to acknowledge her own, bizarre emotions. "Of course," she lied easily.

He was good, Sora acknowledged with a mental smirk. He was almost as good as she was at hiding emotions; but his eyes were a whirlwind of confusion and desperation. He could see the similarities in her face... and the differences. He wanted to believe it was her, but didn't want to given to the hope. Finally he reached them and she turned to him with a sweet smile, "I always enjoy myself in your presence, Dick." She rolled the name on her tongue familiarly, wondering who this was affecting more; her or him. 

“Let’s get this trainwreck rolling,” Peizhi said, bunching up the long, awful skirt of her deep orange dress in one hand and crawling out of the armored limo. She turned to help Sora out, blocking any clear line of fire from the far building with her body.

She ushered Sora inside as quickly as she could without drawing attention, keeping her back between Sora and any possible danger from the street the entire time. She didn’t drop the positioning until the doors closed behind them. She was a ninja. Staying out in the open air in clothes that practically screamed ‘shoot me’ would never be natural to her.

“So you know,” Peizhi told Sora, leaning in closer to the younger woman, “I’ll have my revenge for this dress. Four a.m. spars every day for a week, just you wait.” She looked around the glittering ballroom, at the high, wide windows, the open floor plan, the lack of cover, and multitude of entrenches and exits, and sighed. “Have these people never heard of security precautions?”

Dick had never understood why Bruce had gone to all the stuffy parties, all the fancy dinners, all the charities when he’d… Still been alive.  However, after taking over Wayne Enterprises he’d finally understood why it had to been done, but that didn’t really mean that he had to enjoy them.  Nonetheless, there he was, dressed in his black and blue, fitted tux, his smiling nearly blinding in its brilliance as he made his rounds.

He’d barely been mingling for a half hour, and he knew he’d had to have gone through at least four glasses of champagne already.  Dick was a social creature, certainly, but these people were like sharks; one sign of weakness, one misstep, and it would be his blood in the water.  Never mind all the questionably garbed women that seemed to enjoy pressing against him, whispering in his ear, playing with his hair, and fondling his chest.  Perhaps he would have enjoyed it, once, before everything had happened, but now…

It took a few polite words and more winning smiles before he was moving again, drawing away from one group to move to another.  There was another set of cookie cutter Gotham elite, the same fake smiles, the same gleaming dresses, same finely pressed suits.  However there was something that caught his attention the way someone move that drew his gaze, head turning immediately to gaze across the crowd.

When he saw her, his mind helpfully informed him that he’d seen her before, but didn’t give him a name.  He frowned, ignoring the woman that tugged on his arm before softly excusing himself, offering apologetic smiles and words, as he strode slowly, weaving through the crowd gradually, twisting his head in attempts to make eye contact.  When he did however he froze, his blue eyes wide and breath halting in his lungs; it wasn’t possible, his mind had to be playing a cruel trick on him, but that didn’t stop him from saying her name softly, slowly, wondering if he’d see recognition in her green eyes.

“Steph.” he breathed, swallowing thickly, ignoring the curious looks cast his way.

Sora felt her lips quirk slightly, she felt it the moment he spotted her. She would enjoy this, enjoy making the man responsible for her imprisonment and amnesia suffer. She would revel in watching the man who had taken her memories, who had nearly taken her life, the man who had tried to rip her from her husband permanently. 

Turning, not making eye-contact just yet --he had to come to her after all-- she smiled brilliantly at her companion, "The dress looks lovely on you, and I look forward to them." Turning Sora surveyed the room --keeping special care to never towards the young man making a bee-line to her-- her lips quirking in a silent laugh at Peizhi's words, "I'm sure they have them. Besides, doesn't this ridiculous city rely on the detective and his family to solve all their problems?" her tone was far away, not really expecting an answer. 

Finally, when he had almost reached her she allowed her eyes to finally settle on the dark-haired, blue-eyed man. She had not been expecting his reaction to be so... heartbreaking. Why did it hurt so much to see the pain in his face? Why did she have the sudden urge to run to him and let him hold her?

“It’s no problem. You should get out of here.”

He ran past them, back into the stream to meet up with his blonde partner.

Scowling at the mention to stay close, he resisted the urge to do the exact opposite. What did she think he was – an incompetent fool like the people running around without a sense of reason?

Scarecrow. That was just great. First he was dragged out of bed by Grayson, then he was told to change out of perfectly acceptable clothes and now a psyco-villain was spreading nightmare inducing gas over the newest attraction. Just bloody great.

Oracle kept constant watch and the panic would easily gain attention, of the media kind. “Depends on how far the technology burn out reached, if it could take out our communication devices this could be city-wide. Accounting for that and how long it will take for the media to set up, I’d say 20 minutes before she contacts anyone and getting in here won’t be easy with all the panicking.”

He felt himself twitch; this is why he hated being rushed. “Do you see me carrying a purse, Brown? I’ll just have to make do without.” The he smirked, “And who exactly would remember us in the chaos? Too easy.”

Then Damian slipped as close to the wall of the entrance and moved to go inside, “Now come on. Unless you’d rather wait for Grayson?” He grinned sharply at her, the need to kick the straw- butt’s ass back to Arkham overwhelming.

Steph rolled her eyes at him, "Arrogant little twerp. We better do this right, I don't want Dick on my back cause I let you get your stupid-butt hurt." Not that she would forgive herself, either, but that was beside the point. 

“I know you probably don’t want to hear any of what I’m saying. For over a year I’ve been going on and on about Bruce, and I haven’t been a part of the family like I’m supposed to be. I really wish I hadn’t done that, but what’s past is past. I don’t think I can go back and fix that, but somehow, I don’t really want to. What I do want to fix is what I said to you, and maybe we can get sort of back to normal?” Tim bit his lower lip, mentally preparing himself for what he was going to say next and how the young woman would react. “…I know you can’t forgive me for what I said. I don’t want you to. But what I do want is… I finished the poison research. I think i know where it came from, and I’ve got a contact in El Salvador that says she has information on a couple of things. You said you wanted to come with me, to keep me as close to myself as you could, so I was thinking… I have to leave soon. Do you want to come with me? Maybe while we’re gone, I can try to figure some things out away from Dick and the others, and… Steph?”

Tim cut off and looked up at her, pleading that she understood what he was trying to say, where he was coming from. “I think I really need this,” he said. “I don’t want to lose myself again.”

Torn. Stephanie was torn between wanting to slap him for asking this so soon after what he had said. For asking so much more of her then he was willing to give himself and the fierce desire to protect and watch over him. She couldn't deny that she wanted to go, she wanted them to go "sort of back to normal." She wanted them to be Tim and Steph again, not Red Robin and Batgirl. 

It was his final words that broke her resolve and her solid expression feel into a pained frown. "I don't want to lose you again either." she confessed, still unwilling to reach out and hold him like she so desperately wanted to. "I don't, Tim... Dick isn't going to be pleased that I'll be missing movie night's for a while... though I'm sure Cass and Kate can pick up my slack while I'm gone... I'll have to bring them back something amazing." It was a few moments before she realized that her quiet musings meant she had --unconsciously or not-- already agreed to go with him. 

He made a quiet promise to himself that, no matter what, he would try to not talk about his progress on the poisoner or Bruce.  Somehow, he thought that if he did, he would wind up in Arkham ‘for his own safety.’  Or something along those lines, at least.

His hand rapped a couple of times on her door, and Tim stepped back, hoping she wouldn’t start yelling at him the second she saw him.

Stephanie could hear him outside the door, waiting and listening. She pressed her forehead to the cold wood, her hand gripping the metal knob as she steeled herself for...what? She never knew what to expect with him anymore. One minute he was angry and distant and the next he was the same sweet and caring boy he had once been. Then, just as fast he was yelling again. What had gone so wrong with them? Why couldn't they ever be happy? 

With a final sigh, she squared her shoulders and opened the door. When she saw him she had to resist the urge to finch. Yeah, it was still painful. She looked at him now and didn't see his nervous, uncertainty but how easily he had gone off, shouting and screaming before leaving her alone trying to pick up the peaces again. Steph realized, uncomfortably, that she was almost afraid of the boy in front of her. Afraid of where this night would do, convinced it would once again leave her broken. 

—Though Damian’s reaction when he came home, followed closely by Dick and Cassandra, and found her sobbing on his couch was hilarious….looking back.—

[I’m home tonight. Mom’s working. Drop by around twelve.] Her responses were short and clipped… she was still hurt and mad but she wanted to fix things between them. She really did. It killed her not to be close to him anymore.   

Steph was colder than Tim had expected, even when factoring in the current situation between the two of them. Maybe this whole thing wasn’t as good of an idea as he had thought it to be? [I’ll be over later, then. Do you want me to pick up anything for you on the way over? Because I could. It’d be easy.] Tim knew she was still angry at him. Very angry, judging by her replies to his messages. In fact, it was a very high possibility that the second he stepped inside her home, he would receive a smack across his face. Nonetheless, he still had to try.

[No. Just show up....if you still want to.]

--Though Damian's reaction when he came home, followed closely by Dick and Cassandra, and found her sobbing on his couch was hilarious....looking back.--

Ra’s listened to Stephanie’s tearful confessions, occasionally seeking clarification on a point or two, but largely allowing her to talk without interruption. Seeing her heartbroken, defeated expression was oddly unpleasant. It would be better to conclude this stage of things as quickly as was possible without endangering the plan. There was no need to make Stephanie suffer unnecessarily.

“I’ll take her to the dorms, now, Boss,” Peizhi said after Stephanie fell silent. Ra’s nodded his permission,

“What do I want to know?” Ra’s repeated, smiling. “Oh, a multitude of things, Stephanie. But all I will ask of you is information on your family’s patrol routes and combat styles. A few other small details. Enough to lead them on a chase for a week or two. Very simple things, really. And once that is done….”

He trailed off. Let Stephanie ask the question, engage with the hope he was dangling before her. So much more effective than simply making the offer.

Stephanie closed her eyes as if asking for strength and took a long shaky breath and then opened her eyes feeling worse than she ever had in her life. They would never forgive her for this, and that killed her, but it was necessary. She just hoped that one day they would understand. "Please don't hurt them." she pleaded quietly, and then, only as an after thought asked, "My benefit?" she didn't care. She didn't deserve anything, any form of compensation for what she was going to do. But he wanted her to ask and she found she could not deny him. 

The mention of her family sent a flare of deceiving hope through her but it shattered at his use of past tense. They had moved on. She had been gone for too long, they had written her off as dead like they had Bruce. With guilt she remembered how hard she had been on Tim for refusing to give up on Bruce. She wondered if he would show her the same devotion, probably not. 

He wanted her to betray her family. Her friends. The most important people in her life. No. That was wrong, the most important people in her life were in this room with her right now.

And entirely beside that point, why would he destroy someone so delightful? It was no suprise the detective had been so enamored with her. Her stubborn refusal to give in was quite wonderful. She was so very much like Sora in that…

The question of her own health and safety was a no-brainer; she would gladly die and suffer whatever tortures he through her way if it meant keeping them safe. But it was only as an after though that he had added the bit about her benefit. Could she? Could she betray them if it meant saving them? She would have to. 

Ra’s inclined his head to Stephanie. “As I’m sure you’re aware, you’ve been away from Gotham for quite some time now. Your family is in…considerable disarray.” He paused to allow the statement to sink in, and added the bait to the trap he was weaving. “Your disappearance was quite distressing to them.”

He smiled wryly. “An unfortunate side effect of certain plans in progress. I need your family distracted from a few key areas, least I be faced with the unfortunate necessity of killing them. Which is where your role in all this comes in, Stephanie.”

She stared across at her captor, a wary feeling in her stomach. She might have been a caged bird, but she was not stupid. Something bad was about to happen. Despite this, Peizhi's fingers combing through her hair was a soothing comfort. 

The mention of her family sent a flare of deceiving hope through her but it shattered at his use of past tense. They had moved on. She had been gone for too long, they had written her off as dead like they had Bruce. With guilt she remembered how hard she had been on Tim for refusing to give up on Bruce. She wondered if he would show her the same devotion, probably not. 

He wanted her to betray her family. Her friends. The most important people in her life. No. That was wrong, the most important people in her life were in this room with her right now.

Damian tensed and followed, though he didn’t react to the gas beginning to swirl around his feet. It was mandatory training in The League to be resilient to all sorts of poisons and gases. He supposed it helped being genetically manipulated to be resistant to such things.

Brown couldn’t get a hold of them. He slipped out the communicator he kept with him encase of emergency ever since… the zombie. He tried to open a channel to the cave but all he got was static.

“It would appear Brown that they’re blocking all electronic equipment,” He corrected curtly, wanting to move somewhere less obvious as people screamed and swarmed from their right and left. “And it won’t be easy to get around and stop the culprit without someone recognising us as Wayne members or,” and he looked at her meaningfully, “associates of the Wayne’s.”

After all, the flirting with the notorious Dick Grayson was bound to make the headlines.

Jason drummed his fingers on the table top, resting his chin on his hand.  ”So…  What do you want to do now?”  Jason didn’t mean that they had to do something, but…  Being alone wasn’t the most appealing idea right now.  Not when Steph was making him feel much lighter.

It made him feel selfish, wishing that Steph would just be around him all the time to drive his dark thoughts away.  He knew that she must have better things to do than hang around with a depressed social outcast.

“But… uh, thanks for dragging me outside.  I feel a lot better now,” he said honestly.

“Okay Jailbait, the staring is getting creepy.” Stephanie told him lightly after she had taken the last large gulp of her coffee. “I don’t know, didn’t plan this far ahead, honestly.” When did she ever? But she didn’t want to leave him alone, not yet. Hell, if she didn’t want to leave him alone at all. She knew how hard it was to fight off your inner demons when alone, and he had a lot more demons than she did. Was it any wonder, after everything he had been through, that he had become so dark and angry? That he turned to killing and violence? After all, had he ever known anything but? Her heart hurt just thinking about how horrible he must feel ninety percent of the time and she made a silent vow to herself in the moment that she would do everything she could to help him fight away the darkness. Jason needed some light in his life. “There’s a bar down the road, pretty low-key, decent pool tables.” She gave him a competitive smile that was absolutely feral, “And we can see if you’re actually as good at... everything, as you claim.”

However Barbara smiled a little when Steph did as she asked and took a guide to use to grade.  No doubt that any of the students that she graded would be incredibly grateful considering that Stephanie was a little more lenient than she was.  Despite that she didn’t mind; sometimes students needed a lucky break to break the monotony and stress of school.

At Steph’s response Babs frowned and glanced over at her, her green eyes scanning the blonde’s features for a reaction when she spoke.  It was obvious that whatever had happened had been… A little upsetting to say the least.  Heaving a sigh, her eyes hooding in sympathy, she reached out and gently gripped Steph’s shoulder, shaking her head.

“I think that if anyone can get through to that boy… It will be you.  It’s hard, trust me I know what it’s like dating one of those boys, but keep trying.  I still think you’d be good for one another… Not that that’s helpful… But…”  Babs trailed off, smiling a little before holding her arms open. “I can offer hugs until the boys decide to stop making your life difficult.”