#ceo!cal

‘CALUM HOOD’ you thought. He’s the CEO. Luke’s 'rival'. You've spent the day fantasising about your company's biggest competitor and he's now in the same room as you and your boss.

Luke nudged you under the table with his knee and your eyes immediately shot to his. He mouthed a ‘you alright’, a concerned look plastered on his face. You nodded in response and loosened yourself in your chair slightly, leaning back and making yourself more comfortable. You scanned the room for Calum, noticing he was sat at the other end of the table on the opposite side. Your eyes caught his as you looked up, his face still plastered with a cheeky smirk from the kitchen. You gave him a smile back. Jesus, he looked good.

‘Right’ Luke spoke up, you were thankful for him breaking the silence in the room. ‘Let’s just pick up where we left off. This is Y/N, she’s my assistant. She’ll be helping with any admin and technical bits. I'm sure you all have her email by now’.

After Luke introduced you, you tried to keep your eyes locked on the computer screen from then onwards, hoping that your focus would be on the meeting.

Calum was the first to start talking as you caught up on some of the meeting notes from earlier on. It didn’t take long; Luke wasn’t very good at making notes as well as leading a meeting when there were this many people here talking.

You continued making notes as the group spoke, grateful for the fast-flowing conversations as it meant that you could think about nothing other than typing the words you were hearing. As the meeting went on, you understood what Luke meant about trying to befriend each other rather than being rivals. As two of the leading engineering companies in Australia, they often competed for clients. If they were working together for some jobs, then the bigger team would mean there was less pressure and more resources. It made sense and it was probably the biggest decision that Luke had made since you'd joined. Maybe even in his entire career. So, perfecting a contract for the two companies to merge for certain jobs was a big deal.

The meeting lasted a few hours. Your stomach was starting to growl slightly and the thought of your sandwich back in the office wasn't helping so when it was dismissed with a plan to pick up where you'd left off tomorrow morning you let out a huge sigh of relief. You stayed seated as Calum and his employees began gathering up their things.

'Thank you for that' Luke looked more relaxed now and seemed a bit cheerier than before.

'My pleasure' you turned slightly to face him and gave him a smile. It had been nice to do something different today. Sure, you'd sat in plenty of meetings, but this was something new for the company and something you were excited for after learning more about this afternoon, although there were many different reasons for that.

You and Luke headed back to your office; you didn't look at Calum on the way past just in case he caught you staring. On the way back Luke asked Amy, one of the new interns, to show Hood Co. out. She happily obliged and who wouldn't? No one says no to Luke and she also got to stare at Calum.

The sandwich sat on the coffee table didn't look as appetising as it did when you'd got it earlier, and to be honest, eating dodgy food wasn't something that you wanted to experience. You screwed your face up as you picked it off the table and chucked it in the bin, it didn't smell great either.

'Did you not get a chance to eat?' Luke nodded towards the sandwich as he placed his laptop on his desk.

'No, I grabbed it at lunch' You glanced over at the clock. 5:17. You'd done your hours for the day and didn't really have anything major to do for now.

'You can go home Y/N'

You looked back over to Luke.

'Are you sure? I can stay for longer if you need me' you never liked leaving without it being okay with him.

'Not much more can be done tonight, thank you for all your help today'

'Anytime Luke'

'Well in that case, would you mind sitting in the rest of the meetings for this deal? You made it so much easier today, and Melissa does a good job, but she has he own work to focus on too. You just somehow always manage to get everything done perfectly first time anyway!' Luke looked almost as apprehensive as he had done when he'd asked you earlier. Melissa was one of Luke's newer employees who dealt with some of the Directors admin. As you'd gradually got busier, Melissa was the one that Luke called on to attend his meeting, make notes and sometimes even travel with him when you couldn't make it.

'Of course, I don't' you smiled. 'I don't want to take away Melissa's role though' you picked your bag up from your desk and rummaged around for your keys. Checking you had your phone with you to and that your laptop was charging for tomorrow you headed to the door.

'You won't be' he assured you. 'We've promoted another employee to become a director so she will have even less time to focus on this now anyway, and it's a big deal that needs a lot of time and attention'

'Okay well thanks for the extra work' you joked earning a smile from him. 'Don't stay too late Luke, I don't want to be dealing with a grumpy you tomorrow morning'

'Grumpy? Me? Never!' a laugh escaped his lips.

'Night Luke' your eyes rolled at his comment

'Have a good evening' he replied. As you walked out into the corridor you noticed that the office had started to empty. It was crazy how having someone important in the office made people put in extra work and stayed longer.  Walking towards the lift your thoughts wondered back to Calum. You checked your phone to see if he'd messaged you and to your surprise he had.

'I'll pick you up at 7?'

You never really let people pick you up, always just insisted that you'd just met them wherever planned, but Calum already knew where you lived, and it would just be easier.

You smiled stupidly at your phone typing a 'sounds great x', ditching the smiley face for a kiss at the end, as you went through the door and pushed the down button at the lifts. Your drive home took longer than usual as you hit all the rush hour traffic and by the time you got home you didn't have long to get ready. You put on some make up to make yourself look a bit more alive and changed into a skirt and a nice top, slipping on some high-top converse to make it slightly more casual, hoping that you weren't going anywhere extremely fancy.

It wasn't your usual Monday night, you'd usually get home and do a workout or go straight to the gym and then cook, shower and sleep, all ready to repeat the next day. As you applied a thin coat of lip gloss, your phone rang.

'Hey gorgeous, I'm outside' well that made your heart beat faster!

'Okay I'll come down now' You grabbed your small bag that you usually used for going out-out and went to the front of your building. You thought that maybe you'd at least have to try and spot Calum's car but no, the huge brand-new Rolls Royce that he was stood next to didn't really make him blend in with your apartment complex norm. You probably should’ve guessed that he had a nice car as Luke had plenty, and each time he purchased one he always invited you along to help him pick some of the design features. You loved it, you loved driving but could definitely not afford a Rolls Royce, so helping design Luke’s was the closest you’d ever really get.

He was wearing black jeans and a Guess t-shirt which made you thank yourself that you’d made your outfit more casual. As you approached the car, he opened the door for you before walking round to the driver’s side and getting in. You both smiled at each other before you broke the silence.

‘So, you’re Mr Hood huh?’ you still couldn’t quite believe that you’d been in a meeting with him earlier.

‘Well I don’t like to boast about it, plus, who knows the name of someone who runs a construction business?’

‘Oh, is that why you decided to pick me up in this car?’ you asked, ‘So that you can lie low’. He knew you were being sarcastic as his face cracked a smile. Calum tried his hardest to keep his eyes on the road, but he couldn’t help looking at you as your eyes scanned around the luxury car.

‘I can bring the Bentley next time if that’s more suitable’ Calum commented, and you smiled at his confidence.

‘I really wasn’t expecting to see you in my office today’

‘And you think I was expecting to see you?’ His voice got a bit higher as he spoke. ‘I just wanted a coffee and suddenly you’re walking towards the kitchen’

Calum ended up taking you to a restaurant that he said he’d discovered the last time he was in this part of town. It was a small, family run Italian and it was delicious. Although you offered, he insisted he paid, claiming he chose the restaurant, so it was down to him. You spoke about how you’d gotten into the business, applying for the job and completing a university environmental science degree through the company. It was easy to talk to Calum about your role, most people who hear ‘personal assistant’ assuming its running after their boss every minute of every day but with Calum having his own, he knew it was much more. You loved the variety of jobs that you got to work on and things that you learnt.

Calum spoke about how he got into business and how he could never had imagined he would’ve been so successful. His father had founded the company years ago and it wasn’t until he decided to take a step down that Calum was able to take it to a bigger level.

You also spoke about your families and friends. Turns out Michael who works on his team and was in the meeting today was one of his closest friends and they had been for years. You told him that Luke has the same type of relationship with someone called Ashton who would’ve been in the meeting but was currently away on holiday.

When Calum drove you home, you felt kind of sad that the night was over. You’d had a good time and could’ve carried on speaking to him for hours more. So, when he pulled into your apartment complex, you couldn’t help but ask him something you’d never asked a guy you’d recently met to do before.

‘Do you um… Do you want to come in for a bit?’ he seemed slightly shocked at your question. ‘Oh no not for that you know I just thought maybe we could have a drink and watch Friends or something, it’s what I’d usually do anyway’

Your question was answered when he pulled into a parking space and turned his engine off, shooting you a smile. You apologised for the mess in your apartment as you walked through the door. Your makeup was littered across the coffee table, for some reason you’d decided to put your makeup on in the living room today. There were a few glasses that you had yet to wash up but other than that you kept it very clean. ‘You can but your keys on the hook if you want’ You noticed the keys in his hand and pointed to the hook next to the door where the key to your Mini hung.

‘Are you joking? It’s spotless’ he laughed at you slightly as you sat on the edge of the sofa and untied your shoes and he copied your actions. You picked up both pairs of shoes and placed them on a shoe rack in the hall.

‘I’m a bit of a clean freak’ you admitted. I was true, even if you’d left clothes scattered around for a few days, everything was clean and spotless. ‘I don’t like germs and dust’

He laughed and shook his head you swiped the contents of the table into your makeup bag in an attempt to tidy and placed the glasses onto the kitchen side. The perks of living in an apartment with an open plan kitchen and living room meant that you could have a quick tidy without seeming rude.

‘You’ve got a Mini?’ he asked, obviously noticing the key when he’d placed his with it.

‘Yeah I love it. I had one as my first car and when it eventually got too much use, I just got myself a brand new one as a treat. Do you want anything to drink?’ you asked. Neither of you had drunk at dinner, just had some pink lemonade. ‘I’ve got beer’ You picked the Peroni out of the fridge and waved it in his direction.

‘A beer would be great’ he smiled. ‘I’ve never driven a Mini before’ You grabbed a beer for yourself and joined him on the sofa which he was still perched on the end of. You rolled your eyes and threw the display cushions on the floor.

‘You can sit properly you know’ you handed him his beer and sat down next to him with your back on the cushions and feet up on the coffee table.

‘I just didn’t want to mess anything up’ he made himself comfier as you reached and grabbed the remote that had was on the arm.

‘I’m not that picky’ you laughed ‘And maybe one day you can drive mine if you’re lucky’.

‘Oh really?’ he raised his eyebrows at you. ‘Only if I’m lucky’

‘Well it is my pride and joy’ you smiled. ‘Do you mind if I put Friend’s on or would you prefer something else’.

‘No, I love Friends’

‘Thank god for that, I watch it constantly on loop and all my friends hate it, I just never get bored of it, I think I’m near the end of season 5’

‘Which one do you think I’m most like’ he asked. You cocked your head at him slightly.

‘Hmmm maybe Joey but with more going on up there’ you pointed to your head as you spoke. He let out a little laugh before asking why. ‘I don’t know you just seem like you’d ‘wow’ all the ladies, what about me?’

‘Monica if we’re talking about cleaning, Chandler if we’re talking about sense of humour’

‘Are you calling me sarcastic?’ you narrowed your eyes at him with a smile. ‘And there’s no mention of Rachel’

‘Is that a problem?’ he asked

‘Well she’s only the most attractive women on the planet’

‘I’d say she has strong competition’ he answered as he looked at you. You noticed how his eyes changed slightly. He said it softly, but his eyes said it differently. You both carried on watching Friends and after a while your eyes started closing, your head falling on his shoulder every now and then as you got sleepier. Season 5 eventually finished, and Calum sat up slightly, looking as sleepy as ever, and extremely cute.

You flipped over your phone and looked at the time. 01:25. How was it already so late, you’d usually be well asleep by this time on a Monday night.

‘Shit we’ve got a meeting in the morning’ you remembered as Calum rubbed his eyes.

‘Yeah I should probably get going’ he pouted at the end making you just want to cuddle into him even more.

‘I’ll grab your shoes’ you got up from the sofa and wrapped the blanket that had been covering both your legs around your shoulders to keep warm. After tying his laces, Calum made his way to the door.

‘Thank you for a nice evening’ you smiled up at him as he stood just by your front door. You insisted to walk him down, but he promised he could do it himself.

‘I had a great time too’ his hair was slightly messed up and voice slightly groggy from the tiredness. You both stood there smiling stupidly at each other until he placed his hands around your waist and his face closer to yours. You dropped the blanket from your hands and placed your arms round his neck, connecting your lips to his. The whole thing felt dreamy. What was even happening to you. After a while, you both pulled away and rested your forehead on his as he bit his lip and you smiled up at him.

‘See you in the morning Calum, text me when you’re back safe’ you smiled up at him. You both released your hands from around each other as he grabbed his car keys from the hook.

‘See you in the morning gorgeous’ you opened the door for him, and he stepped into the corridor, giving you a hug and a kiss on the forehead before leaving.

You shut the door and picked up the blanket and cushions that were over the floor. You washed up the glasses from before and placed the beer bottles in the glass recycling. You sat on the sofa and went through your phone, noticing how the smell of Calum had lingered on the fabric.

You got yourself into the shower and eventually bed, falling asleep as soon as the text from Calum hit your phone. But the late night hadn’t helped with the early start that came the next morning.

--------------------------------

“Ash, we gotta get to our gate bud.” Calum said, smiling as he tossed the duffle bag over his shoulder.

Ashton sighed, giving Lily a last, long kiss, holding her tightly to his chest before pulling away to look at Calum. He wrapped his best friend in his arms, whispering quietly, “Keep our girl safe, will you?”

Calum laughed as he pulled away, “Always will.” He beamed, turning to look over at Lily.

She smiled, waving goodbye to Ashton as she and Calum both walked into the airport. They leaned on each other once they got into their gate area, waiting for their flight. Calum scrolled on his phone, sending a few texts to one of their friends that they’d be meeting up with when they landed, having not seen him in a year. They got on the plane and Lily fell asleep on Calum’s shoulder, staying that way for the entire flight. He ran his fingers through her hair and listened to a podcast until he fell asleep too.

He woke up as the plane began to descend, smiling down at Lily and gently waking her. They left the plane and collected their bags, getting into a lyft and going to the hotel. Calum checked them in and they went up to their room, hanging up their outfits for the benefit and putting everything else away. Calum pulled Lily to lay on the bed and took a photo with her, sending it to Ashton to let him know that they arrived. They both laid there together until Luke sent a text saying he was on his way to the restaurant they were meeting up at. Calum took Lily’s hand and they walked around the harbor together to meet up with him. Lily clung to his arm as they walked and Luke greeted them outside the restaurant when they walked up to the door. The three of them sat around and had drinks with their dinner as they caught up on everything that had happened in the past year.

~~~~~~~

They spent the next day doing tourist things around the inner harbor, before coming back to the hotel to get ready for the benefit gala on the top floor of the hotel. Calum sat on the bed with his shirt half on, the bowtie hanging undone around his neck, watching as Lily began doing her makeup, wearing one of Ashton’s t-shirts. He held his head in his hand as he watched her through the mirror, mouth slightly open. She giggled when she looked up and caught him staring. His face turned slightly red and he began busying himself with finishing getting his shirt buttoned and the bowtie in place. Lily finished her makeup and stood up, tugging Ashton’s shirt over her head and walking across the room to get into the long, glittery dress that Calum insisted she wear. She changed into the dress, feeling Calum’s eyes on her as she stepped into the dress, carefully pulling it up and walking back over to Calum, turning her back to him so he could zip it up. He gently took the fabric in his hands, slowly pulling the zipper up, pausing halfway up and gently kissing up her bare back before continuing zipping her dress.

He pulled back after doing up the top button above the end of the zipper and turned, grabbing his suit jacket from its hanger and pulling it over his shoulders, doing up the one button before offering his arm to Lily, both of them heading up to the top floor of their hotel to attend the benefit.

Calum confidently stepped off of the elevator, walking to the door to the Four Season’s event floor, Lily on his arm still as he spoke to the person standing at the podium, “Calum Hood, plus one.” He stated smoothly, smiling down at his girlfriend as he waited for the attendant to consult the list in front of him.

He nodded once he found Calum’s name, waving them through the doors and immediately the pair began looking for their tall blonde friend. They found him easily, holding his girlfriend tightly to his side while they picked at some appetizers that were set out, talking to a small women with impeccably curled light pink hair. She was wearing a black suit jacket over a low cut white top, showing off a small tattoo just below her sternum, the bottom tucked into her flared black pants. Lily began self consciously began running her fingers through her straight hair, not being entirely confident with a curling iron, so she had just pulled her hair into a half-pony, tucking the hair back into itself when she was styling it earlier. As Calum came to a stop next to his friend, Lily looked down, fingers playing with the skirt of her dress as she shyly stood with the group.

Luke smiled at Calum and Lily, quickly hugging Calum before bending down to embrace Lily too, pressing a quick kiss to her cheek in greeting before officially introducing the two to his own girlfriend.

The pink-haired woman spoke up once the three had gotten introduced to each other, bright blue eyes that almost rivaled Luke’s own sparkling under the hanging lights that were above the food table, “I’m Lisa, I’m working tonight, so if you guys need anything at all, just give me a call.” Lily smiled, accepting the other woman’s hand, noticing a radio on her hip as her jacket shifted as she shook hands with both her and Calum. She shot them one last brilliant smile before walking off to continue working elsewhere.

The four of them fell into conversation, finding a table to sit at while they did so. Calum and Luke gave each other updates on the companies since they’d banned business talk from last night’s dinner. Calum was beaming when he told Luke about Lily’s new promotion to CBA and Lily turned pink as she looked down at her lap while Calum berated the younger versions of himself and Ashton yet again for the fact that that hadn’t been her title all along. Calum began describing the new project he’d come up with to Luke, the blonde listening intently as Calum spoke, leaning in closer and nodding from time to time. Calum finished answering Luke’s final question about the project as the organizer took to the stage, the chatter which had been filling the room fading away.

After all the speakers had finished, all the guests rose to mingle and look at the things at the silent auction table. Calum began going around, finding other business people that their company often partnered with to pitch his new project to, Luke walking with him as a wingman since he’d already decided that his company would join in, as well as to talk with those people about his own projects. Lily stood by his side to add in details as well, but wandered off after half an hour to get drinks for herself and Calum, getting stopped on the way back by an old classmate.

“Lily O’Donahue? Is that really you?” a tall man asked, sauntering over from a nearby table which he was the sole inhabitant of.

“Tristan Ross, it’s been a minute.” Lily stated, pausing in her beeline back to Calum, plastering a smile on her face.

“It certainly has,” Tristan stated as he reached her, looking her up and down, “How’re Irwin and Hood doing?”

“They’re good. I should-“

“Irwin here? Been hearing that you two are a package deal recently.” He raised his eyebrows on the last word before acting as though he was looking for the golden haired CEO. “Surprised he let you go off on your own lookin like this, like throwin chum in shark infested waters.”

Lily stepped back, a quick look of disgust crossing her face before regaining her composure. “Ashton is back in California, I’m here with Calum.” she stated, single finger tapping against Calum’s whiskey that she was holding.

Tristan didn’t seem to take the hint that she needed to go, instead continuing to try to move closer to Lily while she tried to discreetly step back, making advances towards her while her eyes scanned the room, Calum having disappeared from where he had been when she had excused herself to go get them both drinks.

Her eyes fell on Lisa and the other woman easily read the expression on her face, clipping over to her and standing by her side. She stood there in solidarity with Lily, hand on her shoulder as she steeled her expression and glared at Tristan. A minute later Lily felt another presence behind her, another, stronger hand placed on her shoulder.

“Tristan Ross, what a surprise,” Calum stated cooly, the slightest tinge of disdain entering his tone. Tristan jumped slightly at the appearance of the larger man. Calum kept his expression flat, but Lily could tell from his touch that that fact had amused him slightly. “Caught a bit of the last things that you said to Lil, she suddenly more interesting to you now that she’s got a boyfriend? Swear there was one night in the frat house where you looked dead at Ashton and said to him ‘watcha see in a little plain jane like Lily O’Donahue anyway?’ Pretty sure both of us were ready to fight you then and there for the way you were talkin bout our best friend, our girl.” Tristan’s face turned beet red and he let out a dark laugh, “Good to know somethings don’t change huh, Hood? Still Irwin and Lily’s loyal guard dog, aren’t you. Wonder if Irwin would let you in on a round with her as your little treat for stepping in.”

Calum’s expression darkened at Tristan’s comment, lowly stating “Doesn’t matter what you wonder, or how you think our friendship works, doesn’t change the fact that you’ve always been an asshole.”

Tristan stepped forward, fist raised when two men in all black with radios on their shoulders stepped between him and Calum, grabbing Tristan by the shoulders and nodding to Lisa as they walked him out. None of them had noticed throughout the conversation that Lisa had signaled to the security team to be on standby and keeping an eye on the situation that was developing, shock filling Tristan’s face as he was walked out of the benefit. Lisa smirked, waving her radio at him before wrapping Lily in a protective hug. She smiled, thanking Lisa quietly, to which the other woman shook her head in response.

The three of them walked together to get some dessert, Calum finally taking his whiskey from Lily, slowly sipping at it while he draped his arm over her shoulder. When they reached the table the green haired man who had been playing the music that had been filling the hall for the past hour walked over, swooping down to kiss Lisa in greeting, wrapping his arm around her. Calum and Lily introduced themselves to him when he stood back up, holding her to him as he smiled kindly at them. “I’m Alex,” the brown eyed man said softly, smiling as they began chatting idly over the desserts.

Eventually the event wound down and Calum and Lily made their way back down to their hotel room. Once they’d changed into their pajamas Calum asked, “Wanna see how Smokey and Duke are doing?”

She nodded simply, cuddling her bare face to his chest as he started the FaceTime call to Ashton. When Ashton answered he immediately flipped the camera to show the dogs, Smokey in his lap and Duke in Michael’s. “Smo!!” Lily cooed instantly, smiling as the pit bull looked around for the source of her voice.

“Knew exactly who it was you two really wanted to talk to.” Ashton stated, giggling as he scratched under Smokey’s chin.

“Love you, Ash.” Lily said with a smile as the hazel eyed man appeared on Calum’s phone screen again.

He grinned and Calum leaned down to kiss the top of Lily’s head before stating, “You’ll never believe who we ran into.” “Luke?” Ashton joked, mirth filling his face at his own small joke, having already known of their plans to meet up  with their shared friend.

Calum rolled his eyes and began telling him about everything that happened with Tristan. When Calum finished Lily could feel the tension he was holding and she reached up to cradle his head in her hands. “Well, if it makes you feel better you can totally just fuck your frustrations out.” Ashton tried to joke, but he was upset about the whole thing as well.

“M’not gonna do that to Lily.” Calum started, but Lily hopped in.

“Sounds good to me, I’ve got some frustrations from having to deal with him that I’d like to get rid of.”

Ashton groaned since he was stuck alone with the dogs and Michael, eyes drooping as he looked at Calum and Lily through his phone. Calum was already smiling down at Lily, beginning to kiss down her neck when they heard Michael go, “No you don’t!”

Calum dropped his phone to the mattress, pulling Lily into him and soon after they heard the call ended noise. Calum chuckled before hungrily attaching his lips to Lily’s, having been aching to do so all night long.

They hit University station no problem, then St. Albert. Aspen keeps her eyes trained on the gritty floor in front of her, shoulders hunched. She wants to look tired, like she’s just trying to get home after a long day. If she keeps still and quiet, maybe she can trick the world around her into thinking that she doesn’t care, she doesn’t need this. Maybe if she doesn’t think too hard about it, the universe will let her get to the island. That’s all she needs. She can take care of herself after that, she just needs to get there.

They hit River Park. It’s the last station before Aparo Park, the subway goes right under the island. Aspen grips her hands tighter as people leave the car. It’s quiet now. She tries not to think too hard. Is the train stalling at the station? The doors are still open. Fuck. She bites at her lower lip. She knows it’s going to be raw by the end of the night, no matter what ends up happening.

If service had stopped, they would have told her, right? The conductor would have made an announcement? Aspen holds her breath until the doors of the train car close and she can sigh in relief.

Home free.

She leans back in her seat as the train starts moving again. They can’t stop her now. Maybe that’s a bad thing. Maybe she shouldn’t be trying to get to this stupid island.

Aspen had taken this trip a few times, meeting up with people in the north part of Gotham. Brunch in the Hill, that sort of thing. The trip under the asylum feels longer now, though, and Aspen tries not to think about the weight of the water overtop of her. She takes deep breaths and keeps an eye on the ad in front of her. Focusing on it helps her nerves a little. It’s about not littering cigarette butts. That’s good of the city to point out. So many people smoke around here.

It’s probably the stress.

Wait. The train is slowing down. Aspen sits up, looking around anxiously as the train comes to a stop. All she can see is black tunnel walls outside. Fuck.

Maybe it’s just a delay. They can’t leave a train car full of civilians in a tunnel under an asylum undergoing incredible structural damage from plant roots, or whatever. They have to take her to the other side, right? Even if it takes a minute or two.

Breathe, she reminds herself. Don’t panic. Not before you get to the fight. Once Ivey’s trying to strangle you with a vine, then you can panic.

“Uh, attention, passengers.” Aspen crosses her fingers in her lap. “We are currently experiencing service interruptions on the Waterfront line due to an emergency on Arkham Island. We’re going to be returning to the Island Centre of Gotham City as soon as the tunnel behind us clears. Thanks for your patience.”

Fuck. Aspen feels her skin go cold. That’s it. They stopped her. Her night is over unless she can find a way out of this car. Again, something takes over her. She’s come too far with a textbook and a cookie sheet as armour in her fucking backpack to turn back now.

...Maybe she could take her chances in the subway tunnel. Aspen knows time is running out, but she makes herself sit still and think it through, heart pounding. It was unlikely that any trains were going to be coming through, now. And this was Gotham. Tunnels crisscrossed the entire archipelago, and there might even be a shortcut through the tunnels. Worst comes to worst, she emerged at Aparo and found her way across the river from there.

She springs up from her seat, getting looks from the other passengers in the car. “My kid sister is home alone uptown.” She lies to no one, looking around desperately for an emergency exit. Nothing in this car. When she rattles the doors, they won’t open. She probably looks crazy. She doesn’t fucking care.

Maybe there’s something in the next compartment. She doesn’t waste time before she wheels around towards the door connecting the cars and slips through. It’s darker in there, when it rattles shut behind her. She takes a deep breath in the brief privacy it allows her. This line has older trains, and the passages between cars are little vinyl accordions, with a metal walkway connecting them. They’re welcome, right now.

Now that she’s had a moment to think, Aspen’s willing to bet that if she takes the emergency exit, some alarm will go off, and maybe the conductors or GCPD will get involved. She can’t afford that. If she gets arrested Calum could downright fire her. Maybe he’d helpfully get one of his friends across the country to offer her a job. Maybe he wouldn’t. It’s just a big risk to take. The train’s gonna start moving any minute. Aspen needs a quieter way off this train, now. Her hand wrapped around the little knife in her pocket as she pressed her hand in, trying to think.

Wait. She felt the cold, smooth edges of the knife, letting her fingers trace over it slowly as she thought. That was one way out.

Adrenaline surges through her and she unfolds the pocket knife, gripping it tightly before stabbing out into the dimness around her. It bounces off the fabric, but Aspen can see a line of white threads where the knife tore it, just a little. Fuck, she really shouldn’t be doing this. Again, she stabs down, and this time she feels cool air from the tunnel when the fabric audibly rips. She presses the knife into the slash she made, dragging the knife down, kneeling to get it low enough make a hole big enough for her to squeeze through. The train lurches, there’s no time to think - she takes off her backpack and pushes it through, and then wiggles herself through. She drops gracelessly to the tunnel floor, feeling gravel stick into the palms of her hands as she presses herself up. She flattens herself to the wall of the tunnel and closes her eyes as the train rushes by, gathering speed - it’s a foot away from her at best, and it is so, so loud. Lights flash against her eyelids.

And then it’s gone.

Aspen can hear the train rattling away down the tunnel, and she opens her eyes. She blinks to try and adjust her vision, but the tunnel is pitch. She fumbles for her phone, flips on the flashlight. Out of curiosity, she checks her reception. No bars. Shocker. Still, if Calum’s tracking her, he’s gonna be scratching his head now.

It’s a fun thought, but she’s sure he’s busy. If something happens down here, she’s on her own.

Well. She’d better get moving, then.

The tunnel is cold, but the air is dry and musty, not wet with mold. Aspen doesn’t know if it’s her imagination or if there’s actually something scurrying around the darkness with her, but she tries not to panic. Rats are one step away from the lab mice she handles all the time, now, she can handle them. Even if they are the size of cats, like she’s heard. Oh, fuck. She really didn’t need to be thinking about that.

She should worry about how she was going to get out of here. She keeps a hand on the wall as she walked, so she didn’t get turned around in the darkness, even with the stark beam of the flashlight in front of her. These tunnels could quickly become catacombs. In fact, with Gotham’s history of crime, there were probably a few bodies rattling around here. Fuck. She really had to focus, Jesus. She couldn’t scare herself down here, where the air seemed to reach down her throat and pull moisture from her lungs. Fuck.

Aspen stopped and rubbed her head. She couldn’t personify the fucking darkness around her. That was how she scared herself stupid. That was how she got hurt.

Aspen keeps walking. She was careful to keep the flashlight beam trained ahead of her, avoiding stray rocks and the tracks. She wasn’t sure which rail was electrified, and she didn’t want to find out. It was quiet, thankfully. She starts humming, some pop hit she heard on the radio. 

Her feet crunched along the ground more or less to the beat, and she kept on like that, for a while. She checked her phone for the time. It didn’t matter, she didn’t know where she was.

“’Cause you’ve been acting so conspicuous,” Aspen sings, enjoying the reverb as it dulls her fear a little. “You flip it on me, say I think too much, you’re moving different when we’re making... Fuck. ”

The tunnel split before her. Tracks curved to her right. On her left, the tunnel was strewn with even more debris. It could lead to the island surface, or it could be a dead end. Aspen knew, at least, where the tunnel on the right was heading. Aparo Park station wasn’t far from the river, and once she actually got to the island’s surface she was sure that she could find the massive asylum surrounded by cops easily enough.

She stands there for a second, staring at the tunnels. The tunnels stare back.

Fuck. She pictures the Gotham area in her head. The subway tunnels run to the left of the asylum, right? So she should go left. Wait, fuck, she had no idea where she was.

Aspen took another deep breath and tried to think. Was there another way she could figure out how close she was to the surface?

Ugh. She feels like a dumbass, but she sticks a finger in her mouth real quick to wet it and then holds it out, upright, to feel for a draft. She closes her eyes, even though it’s already dark as hell, and tries to focus.

Left. The left side is colder. Is she sure?

Well, what the hell, if it’s a dead end she’ll find out soon enough.

Aspen opens her eyes and starts down the left side. It quickly becomes much more challenging - there’s more rocks to avoid, and she tries not to think about what happens if she sprains her ankle down here. No room for error. No trips, no mistakes. If she makes it out of this Calum is going to have to acknowledge her. She’s doing good fucking work. She better get a fuckin’, fuckin’ Purple Heart. 

But she made the right choice. Soon she can feel a draft on her face, and she can smell water. Maybe she’s on the wrong side of the river, but she doesn’t have to navigate the tunnel out of Aparo, at least. Encouraged, she moves even faster, jogging gently despite the weight of her bag.

It feels good. Somehow she didn’t think she’d get this far.

The wind picks up. Aspen rounds a corner to see her way out - the tunnel opens up into a concrete structure, long and low. It’s dark; there aren’t really any windows. The only way out she can see is right ahead, two big doors with a grate up top. She can see Gotham’s light pollution through the bars. She picks up a rock. She has a feeling that door’s not going to open easy.

She’s right. The door flexes when she shakes it, but there seems to be something on the outside keeping it closed. Fear grips her again. The door isn’t too thick; it feels like aluminum when she steps back. Aspen takes another look; there are rusty hinges on the inside, facing her. A plan takes shape in her mind almost instantly, and she kneels down and puts her phone carefully out of the way before smashing the rock down on the hinge closest to the floor. The sound of angry metals reverberates around the concrete structure, making her wince, but she hits it again, and then again before the metal starts to bend and shear away from the doorframe. Yes. 

Aspen feels like a fucking caveman, and she’s sure that half the island can hear her, but she prays there’s enough chaos to cover the noise. With a little hard work, she manages to get the hinge off in twisted pile on the ground.

Okay. That’s step one.

Aspen grabs her phone to get it out of the way, stands up, and kicks at the newly freed corner of the door experimentally. It dents. Okay. Grabbing on to the wall for support, she kicks out again and again, wishing she had worn boots instead of sneakers. No matter. The door slowly crumples like paper, creating a space big enough for her to wiggle through, probably. Thank God for aluminum. 

Aspen shakes off the backpack, clambers down on to her belly, and shoves it through the hole. The edges of the metal catch, and she has to push hard to get the bag through. This might hurt, she thinks, and then she drops her head and starts to squirm after her backpack. Metal scratches down her back, digging into her ass and her thighs, but once she stands she checks and her pants aren’t ripped. Not that it would matter. It’s such a casual worry for this night. It barely stings. 

Fuck. She did it. She’s here! And she doesn’t have a fancy car or help from the cops or anything. Calum can eat her entire ass, oh my god.

A thought crosses her mind: if he’s not here she’s going to lose her shit.

Aspen makes herself regroup, turning off her flashlight, closing her eyes and breathing slow. She can hear sirens. So that’s where she’s heading next. Slowly, she opens her eyes, but she can’t see any lights to indicate the Asylum. No matter. She’ll find them.

She should get an update on the situation. She opens her phone, trying not to think about how it will fuck with her night vision to check this shit. She googles “updates gotham asylum” and skims the first page of results. The asylum is being searched for any remaining inmates where possible, where the plant growth isn’t too dangerous. The bulk of them are being temporarily removed to Blackgate. She’ll keep an eye out for any patients but as long as it’s not one of the serial killers she thinks she’ll be able to hold her own.

Maybe she’ll keep her rock, just in case.

The landscape of the island is mostly scrubby. There’s a utility road, or what’s left of one, leading out of the little valley with the abandoned tunnel. Maybe, back when the Gotham subway was being built, the asylum was going to be a stop. It makes Aspen feel a little weird, thinking about what could have been here other the facility and a sewage processing plant. Maybe if people lived here, if there was ice cream shops and shoe stores and a grocer’s, the people behind the walls wouldn’t feel so angry and alone.

She has to turn off the road to follow the sirens. The bushes smack into her arms, and she has to train her eyes carefully on the ground to keep from tripping. They’re moving, she realizes, not the branches but the cars, and she starts to run, looking for the road. The sirens are intermittent, like birds calling and responding.

The road appears quickly, and now she can see flashing lights bouncing off the trees and everything else. The cop cars are in motion; they seem to be escorting a bus full of prisoners somewhere, and she’s willing to bet where they’re leaving is where she wants to be.

It’s easy, from there. Aspen has been exiled for this, kept from everything she wanted, crawled through vinyl and dirt and rust for this. Finding the actual asylum is simple.

Arkham Asylum has big gates, really big Gothic ones. As Aspen gets closer, she realizes they’re closed. Well, maybe they’ll just let her in. She can’t be an inmate, they’d have to, obviously she’s on the wrong side of the fence.

If she hadn’t slowed down to take the asylum in, she wouldn’t have heard him. She has just come down to a walk when she heard the ground behind her crunch. Someone was there. She didn’t have time to think before she wheeled around, rock raised, ready to smash their fucking head in.

The Batman knocked her hand aside, sending the rock flying harmlessly out of her grip. Aspen grabbed her wrist stupidly as he looms over her. He looks so much bigger in that suit, devoid of all the tiny softnesses that made him recognizable as Calum. No wonder it took her so long to realize back at that construction site.

They’re both frozen for a while. All that time in the tunnel, and she still had no idea what to say to him.

“What do you think you’re doing.” He says, taking a step towards her. It’s not a question. Fuck, she’s in trouble

Aspen retreats, taking another step towards the gates. Her mind feels slow with nerves. “You wouldn’t let me see you in your office.”

It’s dark out, but she gets the feeling he rolls his eyes. “Didn’t I tell you I was trying to keep you safe? How did you even - it doesn’t matter. You’re leaving. Now.” Calum reaches out fast and grabs her bicep before she can move away. She feels like a kitten, and he’s got her by the scruff of her proverbial neck. He almost lifts her off her feet.

“No! Let me go.” Aspen kicks out for his shins, connects with armour. It hurts her more than it hurts him. He’s not listening.

“Don’t struggle.”

“I know how you can beat her! Calum, I -”

“That’s not my name. You don’t know what you’re saying.” Calum says, dragging her along. Aspen doesn’t know where he’s intending to put her, but she does know it’s not fucking happening. She’s staying.

“Burning the plants isn’t gonna work!” She yells. Fuck subtlety. Maybe Gordon will listen to her, if the cops find her before Calum puts her somewhere she can’t kick her way out of.

But, wonder of wonders, Calum stops. He freezes. Aspen’s dangling on her tiptoes, trying to balance herself. “I know that plant. It’s called jute and it’s gonna be super green. Burning it is gonna damage the asylum more than Pamela Ivey.” The cowl tilts. He’s listening. She tries to catch her breath. “Cold is gonna be way more effective. You fought that Professor Freeze -”

“Victor Fries.”

“Whatever. I mean, yeah.” Aspen covers quickly. She’s taking this seriously, she swears. “I’m willing to bet you have some of his cryogenic tech stored away. You can freeze the plants to keep them from growing more and maintain the structural integrity long enough to get any remaining inmates out. Then you might even be able to shatter them with that sonic blast thing you’re trying to sell to the military.”

Calum lowers his arm a little, and Aspen finds her footing again. “How did you know about all that?”

Aspen takes her chance, and yanks her arm out of his grip. It’s not as satisfying as it should be. They both know that he’s letting her break away. “Does it matter? I’m trying to fucking help you.” She says, taking a step out of his reach again. Her shoulder burns like the frusteration in the pit of her stomach.

“I don’t need your help.” The Batman turns his face away.

“Obviously you do.”

The cowl is pretty face-absorbing, but Aspen could swear she saw his jaw flex. “You’re a distraction. I can’t have you getting into trouble for me while I’m trying to save Gotham.”

“For you?” Aspen repeats. Fuck it, she is angry now, she gets into his space again. “You think I came all the fuckin’ way out here solely for your benefit?”

Lighting quick, he reaches out and grabs her face. She stills immediately, his eyes boring into hers. She doesn’t dare move. “Every time I look at you I see that cut you got trying to keep me safe. Do you know what that’s like?” Calum turns her head, forcing her to face the side. She can feel his eyes tracing the cut on her cheek. His grip on her jaw is dangerous - it’s barely not strong enough to hurt her. Just. He wants her to know how easily he could make this hurt.

Aspen doesn’t give a shit. She’s so mad her brain turns to angry static, and her mouth hangs open. How fucking dare he.

He pushes her so she stumbles back in her furious daze. “I’m not going to let that happen again. Now, you can go quietly into a cop car and get a nice ride home, or I can -”

“You’re such a fucking asshole.”

“What?”

“You’re an asshole.” Aspen repeats. Her hand flies to her face, tracing the ridges of the raised scar. “You think I did this for you? God, you’re so fucking selfish.” He is quiet. Not that she notices. She’s too mad to think about what he’s doing. She just wants him to hurt.

“Fuckin’ Christ.” She laughs. “I kept my mouth shut because I knew that the second I talked, they were gonna kill me. That’s all. I wasn’t trying to keep you safe, you jackass. I was trying to save my life. God,” she mocks his voice, “do I know what that’s like. It’s my fucking face! How do you think I feel!” She’s shaking. She has to catch her breath. She hasn’t been so angry in a long time.

The mask remains impassive, but - “I’m sorry.” He says. Aspen blinks. It sounds weird, in his Batman rasp.

“Yeah, well, I’m sorry it’s such a fucking burden for you to look at me. What a martyr. Thank God you’re around to make these difficult fucking choices for me, right?” She snaps at him.

“I’m sorry.” Calum says through gritted teeth. Aspen’s not worried. As if his anger could catch up to hers. “Listen, this isn’t the time.”

“I’m not gonna give you the chance to kick me out again. Every time you see me you’re trying to make it the last time and you know what? I’m fucking sick of it!” She shakes her head, as if that will clear it. “You should have let me help when I offered in the first place.”

Calum shakes his head. “No.” He says, simply.

“Fuck you.” Aspen snaps, dropping her backpack off her back. She had never wanted to shake the sense into someone before, but she was about to try. That was worth losing her protection for. Let her get shot. Obviously he would feel it more, that fucking asshole.

“Go home.” Calum says, looking around. The gates of the asylum loom up behind him. “We’ll talk about this tomorrow.”

“If I’m not halfway to Central City by then!”

Calum’s face is inches from hers. “Aspen. Thank you for your help. Now, get off this island before you get hurt again.”

Aspen shakes her head. She makes herself take a deep breath. It stills something inside her, and she can finally properly look at him. Calum’s eyes are dark in the sockets of his mask, and his chest is heaving. He’s mad, too. Goddamn, they keep fucking doing this to themselves.

He’s so close she can smell that cologne he uses, even through the suit. They both realize how close they are at the same moment, but neither one steps back. Aspen is suddenly waiting for him to kiss her, but all he does is let out a little sigh. He doesn’t move. Not an inch.

“I have to do everything myself, don’t I?” She says, and then she grabs that stupid fucking cowl and yanks him in and kisses him.

Maybe he lets her drag him in, or maybe he’s surprised. But it doesn’t matter, because he’s kissing her back ferociously, pressing his tongue at the seam of her lips almost immediately. Aspen opens her mouth so he can feel her teeth. Her fingernails find seams in his armour and she drags herself closer, pressing her body against his. His hand finds the soft place above her hip and he digs his fingers in, pulling her closer. Calum pushes back; he presses in, kissing her so hard she has to tilt her head back and cling to him to stand upright. His teeth dig into her bottom lip, and Aspen’s body jolts as he pulls back slowly, until she feels like her whole body is going to snap. When he lets go suddenly and lets her lip fall back into place, they stare at each other, chests heaving, sharing a breath in the tiny space.

“Fuck,” Calum growls, and he grabs her thighs, lifting her and pressing her against one of the brick pillars by the gate so fast the air is knocked out of her lungs. He kisses her hard, fingers digging into her thighs as he tries to devour her. Aspen whimpers into his mouth, she can’t help it. She wants to be able to pull his hair. She wants to feel him so bad. Calum kisses like a tsunami, all overwhelming force like he’s trying to knock her over and over until she doesn’t know which way is up. Usually Aspen has tricks, she kisses like she’s trying to hint at what else her mouth is good at. This time there’s none of that. She just has to cling to him, wrap her legs around his waist and let his lips envelop her.

She wraps her arms around his neck and grinds down on him as they kiss, feeling short of breath in the best fucking way. Calum’s hands move up to her ass, helping her roll her body against his. Aspen doesn’t know how this happened and she doesn’t fucking care, she just wants to kiss him forever. God, she wishes she could feel him. All of him.

When Calum pulls back, she doesn’t care, she chases his mouth until he grabs her hair to keep her from getting caught up in another kiss. She whines, and when she opens her eyes he’s smirking at her. That’s mean. She squirms against him, mouth half open, knowing she’s desperate and not fucking caring. Calum makes a small sound, a fond one, she thinks, even though it’s weird hearing tenderness come from him, from the Batman, and he leans in again -

Aspen jumps when the sound of metal shrieks out behind her. The gates are opening. Batman moves fast - he moves back so she drops down from where he had her pinned, and tucks her under his arm as a cop car, lights flashing, pulls through the gate. “Wait,” Aspen says, as he pulls her towards the road. The car’s stopped in front of them. He’s trying to kick her out again. “Wait, please, I want to stay.” It sounds pathetic in her own ears as the officer steps out.

Calum ignores her. “Take this civilian back to the city centre. She’s in danger.” He orders the cop, grabbing her by the shoulder to pull her out from the security of his chest. His thumb is on her spine.

“No, I’m not - I’m not going!” Aspen cries, but this cop obviously is on the Batman’s side, he grabs her other arm and helps pull her away.

“Miss, miss, come on, let’s get you out of -”

“I need to stay!” Aspen says, turning to him wild-eyed. “I’m here to help, please -” She turns around to plead with Calum again, and he’s just gone. The ground where he stood is empty. A disappearing act. It shocks her so much she goes still and stops fighting the cop.

He left her. Again.

The officer isn’t as impressed as she at the Batman’s little trick. He’s still tugging at her. Aspen gives in quietly, numbly lets him get her in the backseat of his car. Her mouth is still wet from his kisses. She had really thought she was going to win this one. She didn’t even get to see Poison Ivy!

Pushed to the side again. She was starting to get used to it.

The cop asked her a few conversational questions, in a friendly sort of way. He knows the officers from her last ride in a cop car. She’s famous, almost. Aspen didn’t answer him except to tell him where to drop her off. She felt sick. It should have been raining; she should have been soaked and shivering, making the scene even more pathetic. But no, the stars were stubbornly out, and she could see them even through the bars.

“See that?” The cop says.

Aspen didn’t respond.

“‘S one of the Bat’s drones. He uses them for bringing in artillery.”

Aspen looks, even though she tries not to do it too obviously. Something does wizz over the car. Maybe that’s the freeze gun. Maybe she did help.

Well, it’s gonna be the last fucking contribution she ever makes in Gotham.

Calum’s not going to let her stay, now. She’s proven herself to be too much trouble. Aspen’s heart aches. Fuck, she has got to stop kissing him. It never seems to end well. 

Also, cop car back seats are fucking uncomfortable. She couldn’t have sat in the front this time?

“Oh, sh- hey, I forgot my backpack. We need to go back.” Aspen realized. Stupid.

The cop just shakes his head. “No can do, miss. You heard the Bat. We’ll find a way to get it back to you later.” She slumps back into the plastic back seat, kicking herself for leaving her backpack behind.

Aspen doesn’t offer herself the wild hope that she’ll be allowed to stay. What had Calum said that day in her office, again? What were the terms of her exile? They were still pretending she didn’t know, then, so there was nothing explicit, but she’s pretty sure that vandalizing a subway car, trespassing through the tunnels under the island, and running all over Arkham Island is in violation of her parole.

Aspen doesn’t cry until she’s safely at home. She shuts the door to the apartment and leans against it and she can’t move, she just stands there and cries silently until she can move apart her apartment, face twisted with tears, and shuck off her clothes to shower. Dirt swirls around the drain. Fuck, she has an early morning tomorrow. Her last morning, probably. It hurts her to think how easily Calum can make her disappear out here.

She checks the news, standing in her towel in the bathroom after fishing her phone out of her pocket. Poison Ivy has been recaptured. It doesn’t feel like a triumph.

She collapses into bed, muscles grateful, but it takes her a long, long time to fall asleep.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Aspen hums to the mice. Take Good Care of My Baby. It’s a cute little 50s tune. Yes, she knows it’s stupid, the mice aren’t her babies, but she’s feeling fucking sentimental, alright, it’s probably her last day.

She hates saying goodbye to places. It feels like Goodnight Moon. She says a fond farewell to every sink, every coat rack, even the counter she banged her hip on every other day. She’s just cleaning up when she hears Ashton come in, yelling her name, and she braces herself for the worst kind of parting.

“Mac, where are you? Oh, still with the mice.” Ashton comes in, practically panting. “I just got off the phone with Mr. Hood. Why didn’t you tell me you were leaving us?”

No. God, her stomach sinks. He must be really pissed, if he didn’t have the decency to tell her himself she was being transferred. Fuck. “I’m really sorry.” Aspen says, turning to face him. “If I had known sooner, I would have told you. I never wanted to leave you shorthanded.”

“No, no.” Ashton says, smiling. Aspen’s heart squeezes in her chest. He’s glad to get rid of her. Fuck, was she really that much of a burden after the incident? “Don’t worry about us. Holy shit!” He hugs her. Aspen would hug him back, only she’s kind of in a state of shock. She hadn’t realized her recent work was that bad. “You’re gonna come visit us, right?”

“...I mean, as often as I can, it’s just kinda far.”

Ashton laughed again, and actually leaned back to pick her up and spin her around. “Kinda far, she says. You deserve this, Mac.” He says, once he sets her down. “I’m so proud of you.” He holds her at arm’s length. He is beaming.

Wait, what the fuck? “Thanks.” Aspen mumbled as an afterthought. She doesn’t know what’s going on. “What, uh, what exactly did Mr. Hood tell you about?”

“Your lab.” Ashton blinks at her. “The lab you’re heading. You’re supposed to be meeting him there any minute now. I just wanted to congratulate you before you headed up.”

What? “I, uh, just wanted to make sure I could tell you everything. He told me to, um, just kind of, kind of keep everything under wraps until it was all official. I didn’t want to jinx anything.” Aspen steps out of Ashton’s range, moving around him quickly, peeling off her lab coat. She has to get up there. She checks her phone; nothing. Another test. “I better head up. I’ll be down soon, alright? I’ll be right back.” She says, as if that will make it true.

“Yeah, of course. Good luck, Mac. I mean, I’m sure you won’t need luck, you’ve already got the lab, but -” Aspen walks out on him as he continued on. It’s rude of her. She didn’t care. She worried her hands as she headed for the elevator.

Where the fuck was she even going? Aspen got in the elevator, mercifully empty, and stared at the panel for a moment. What floor were the Hood Tech labs on again? She knows she’s not nearly of that caliber, but it’s her best bet. Aspen hits the button and prays as the door closes. She counts the floors, like it’s some strange countdown to a bomb detonating. Calum wouldn’t get Ashton to lie to her about a lab, he wouldn’t hurt her like that. Was this her transfer? Was that what it was? Was he meeting with her to give her this pretty consolation prize? What if she’s not even going to the right spot?

Aspen shuffles back as the elevator fills and empties, like the tides. She has a long way to go, a long vertical ride for her to chew on her lip and wrestle with her hands. It feels like ages later when she steps out of the elevator, alone, on the Hood Tech landing.

Calum is there.

“You found me,” He says, smiling, and Aspen can’t believe it. She’s actually incredulous. He’s never smiled at her like that - all sunny and unguarded like nothing’s happened. Like they’re both unscarred.

Aspen just nods. She doesn’t know what it’s safe to say yet. Calum can see how worried she is, and he puts a big hand on her shoulder to soothe her.

Out of all the freaky shit Aspen’s seen since she came into his office, this might top everything.

“I need to thank you for your help last night.” He says as he starts to guide her down the hall.

Okay, that’s now the freakiest. 

Aspen doesn’t peek into the doors around her, this time. She keeps her eyes on him. “You thanked me then.” She says, cautiously. So they can just… talk about this? They can just do that?

“Not properly.” He’s excited - Aspen has to hurry to keep up with him again. “Your strategy was invaluable. I don’t know why I didn’t see it sooner, but - and how did you even get on the island?”

He’s beaming. That’s the word she’s looking for, Calum is beaming. Aspen feels it on her skin like the sun. “Subway tunnel.”

He shakes his head. “I thought so.” Grinning, he stops at a closed door and waves a key card in front of a sensor. A light turns green and he pushes the door open. “I arranged something for you. As a thank you.” He keeps looking at her, like an expectant kid watching someone open a present. This is for you”

It really is a lab. Well, not yet, but it will be. There are benches and monitors and it’s all white and clean, waiting for her to fill it with what she needs to save her corner of the world. Aspen’s not being sent away. She’s not going anywhere. She gets to stay. She gets all this.

She should say something. She can feel Calum looking at her expectantly, and she fucking hopes he can see the joy shining on her face, but she can’t think of what to say. “...I thought you were transferring me.” She says after a moment. Wait, no, that’s not what she means. She turns to face him properly. “I mean, thank you. Thank you so much.”

Calum squeezes her shoulder gently. His hand starts to wander up a little more, fingers just brushing the edges of the skin of her neck exposed by her shirt. Aspen tries not to think about it. “You deserve it. Just let me know what you need, I’ll see to it for you. I didn’t know what equipment you’d need, but -”

“It’s perfect.” Aspen says. “Don’t worry about it. It’s perfect.” She wants to kiss him. Fuck, she can’t say enough how much this means to her, she wants to show him. She holds off, though. She can’t fuck this up now.

But she can’t wait. She settles for throwing her arms around him in a hug, and with his lightning fast reflexes Calum hugs her back, folds her into his chest and rests his head on hers like he was waiting for this. If he was waiting, she wouldn’t have been mad. He could be one step ahead of her on this one.

Too soon, he pulls back, but he keeps his hands on her so she faces him square. He checks over his shoulder to make sure the door is closed, face sober for a second, then - “This support isn’t conditional on you working with me as… As Batman.” He takes a deep breath. “But I’d really appreciate it if you considered -”

“Yes.” Aspen says, too fast. She laughs at herself nervously. This is incredible. “I mean, I fuckin’ considered it pretty hard last night, if we’re speaking freely, sir.”

Calum laughs at that, ducking his head. When he raises it, Aspen shifts in his arms; he’s looking at her so tenderly she can’t breathe. “There are a few conditions.” He says, once he’s caught his breath and found a way to arrange his face into something other than a grin. He pulls away, trying to take on the Calum-Hood-CEO pose she’s seen him do in so many meetings. His stern face isn’t entirely convincing. Aspen loves it.

“Hit me.”

“I- okay.” Calum chuckles again before getting himself back under control. “The big thing is you don’t come into the field with me. That’s non-negotiable. I’ll give you a direct comm link to me at all times, whatever you want, but I am not putting you in the line of fire. Don’t start.” He warns as Aspen opens her mouth to protest. He’s really stern, now. He means this one.

She closes her mouth. “Fine.”

Calum gives her a look that is so unbearably soft she thinks she might fall apart. “You train every day with me at the manor.” He continues. “Every day. You also need to be available at all times. If I call, you head straight here, no questions asked. You can pursue any research you want in your spare time, but if you take this on I’d expect your priority to be supporting me.”

Any research? Aspen’s heart almost jumps out of her throat. This is worth the bloodshed. This is worth every sleepless night. And he’s finally gonna let her do her work. “I - yes. Of course.” She says, nodding seriously despite the happiness bubbling inside her.

“You should take your time with this choice.”

It sounds like Calum is trying to warn her, but Aspen doesn’t give a shit. “With all due respect, Cal, you couldn’t keep me away from this if you tried.” She says, stepping into the lab to explore in case he decides to try and drag her out. “And, in fact, you have. And it didn’t work out for you.”

“Don’t be smug.” Calum says behind her. He’s smiling. She can hear it. It makes the hair on the back of her neck stand up.

“I’m right, though.” Aspen says, pulling a wheely-chair out from a desk experimentally. Her backpack is placed on her seat. Her backpack! “Oh my god, you brought my bag in for me?” She says, turning around to face him.

“Yeah, what were you doing at Arkham Asylum with a biochemistry textbook?” Calum asks, tilting his head to the side as he walks over.

“It was supposed to help if anyone shot at me from behind.” Calum snorts out a laugh, and doesn’t try to hide it. Mean, she thinks fondly. “Hey, listen, we don’t all have multi-million dollar corporations behind us to make custom suits or whatever.” She pouts, but he just laughs again and walks towards her.

“I’ll order you a bulletproof backpack.”

“Oh, you can actually do that?”

“Sir.” He reminds her, but he’s smiling, like it’s an inside joke.

Aspen shakes her head and grins. “Oh, fuck off, we’re way past that, sir.”

Calum grabs the backpack out of her hands and before it hits the floor he is kissing her. He grabs her hips, pressing her back against the desk as his tongue curls languidly into her mouth. Aspen’s body melts into his and she finally, finally gets to weave her fingers into his hair and tug on it gently. Calum kisses like a fucking dream like this, all unhurried and so happy his lips are always in danger of stiffening into a smile. Aspen loves it.

When Calum pulls away, he rests his forehead against hers. His lips are parted, and Aspen knows if she tries she can dart in and kiss him again. But she resists that urge; she stays still. She doesn’t want to make a sudden move and have him pull away again. And after a long moment, Calum connects their lips again. His thumbs dig into the soft areas above her hips, but this kiss is short, it’s sweet. He pulls away, far enough that she can see it clearly when he smiles at her.

But then he hesitates.

“I don’t - I don’t know if it’s a good idea for us to do this.”

Fuck that. He kissed her this time. Aspen’s had enough of this. “Then let me go.”

He doesn’t.

They’re quiet for a few moments more. Aspen takes a deep breath. She doesn’t want to be a woman who just bends over backward for someone, asks for nothing and starves. But right now, this is what she wants. She likes that he’s the only one who can keep up with her, the only person who makes her feel so unsteady, free even if it’s free-fall.

“Hey,” she says, quietly, “I don’t expect ‘normal’ from you. I know what the reality of this is. I don’t need any promises, I don’t want you to feel like I’m your weakness, but - don’t keep pushing me away. Either cut this off right now, or just - let me keep kissing you. But don’t leave me hanging here. One or the other. Please.”

Calum’s still holding her hips as he looks at her. For once, Aspen doesn’t feel afraid. No matter what comes next, she knows she can take it. Fuck, she spent all that time alone chained to a chair, she can cut Calum out of her heart easy now that she’s been through that.

And she knows she can handle his love.

Calum leans in again, but Aspen lets go of his hair to put a hand to his chest, stopping him even as his lips puckered. “Don’t.” She says, meeting his eyes. “Don’t kiss me if it’s gonna be a goodbye.”

He swallows hard. Aspen can see his Adam’s apple bob. He reaches up to cup her face, running his thumb along the scar on her cheek. She jolts. She’s never let anyone touch her there. No one who knew her, no one who wasn’t wearing gloves. His touch is gentle, his hand warm. She swears she can feel the ridges of his fingertips.

Calum kisses her, and God, it feels good.

“You gave me a heart attack. You scared me.” She jokes when he pulls away, and he laughs, throwing his head back. His eyes shine when he looks back at her.

“I didn’t mean to - Listen, I really have to go, I have meetings all morning, but I’ll come see you after. We need to get you set up as soon as possible, alright, Penny?”

How long had he been thinking about calling her that? Aspen doesn’t care. Well, maybe she did. She could ask now. She doesn’t have to pretend so much anymore. “How long have you been thinking about calling me that?” She asks, tilting her head.

He rolls his eyes at her, looking away like he’s embarrassed to be asked. Her heart swells. Fuck, he’s perfect. “Too long. You don’t mind it?” Calum asks finally. He means it, he’s unsure. She can see it in his eyes.

“No one calls me that. It’s… kinda sweet.” She says, and she means it, too.

“It suits you.” He says, squeezing her hip before letting her go to head for the door. “Listen, I’ll bring lunch from that place you like when I come back?”

This is how it ends, then. He leaves her alone to sort out the lab, sort out everything. Aspen’s not totally naive; they’ll talk business at lunch, and then they’ll talk pleasure. She’s willing to bet Calum will have come up with a crazy list of rules by then, try to polarize this. She can take him, though. She can take him. After that, more work, and then there will be a date, or maybe not. He’ll probably get all dressed up tonight, in a suit of one sort or another.

What the hell, she can’t predict how her days are going to go from here on out. The thought kinda thrills her. She just smiles around her empty lab and starts to get to work.

-

But that’s not how it all ends.

It’s been a week. A whole week since her untimely dismissal from the great office of Mr. Calum Hood. A little more than that since her cheek had gotten filleted. She was going to get the stitches taken out that evening after work. It was pissing her off that the rest of her wasn’t healing as quickly.

Oh. She blinks at the screen. Turns out the statistics were an easy fix. She hits print and takes the tiny commute to the printer before handing it to Ashton. He smiles at her for it, but his eyes catch on her scar again. Only for a second, but she notices. It happens a lot now, but she still notes it, every time. She can’t help it.  

Personally, she kinda thinks the cut looks rakish. She’s started answering to inquiries about it with “you should see the other guy” and her very best mischievous smile, and people usually act a little more relaxed after that, which is nice. At night when she’s brushing her teeth, though, she finds herself looking at it and wondering if she’s always going to be introducing people to her scar.

Still, it could be worse. Falcone’s never gonna call her his pretty little girl ever again.

He’s in trouble. That’s another thing that’s changed over that week. Falcone’s been indicted for a bunch of charges related to the Sionis and Trident murders, and he’s pleading not guilty but they’ll just see how it all shakes out in court. Her only contact with Calum is emails from his lawyers updating her on what the prosecution needs from her in anticipation of the trial. She can’t believe she’s going to be so stupid as to testify against a mobster, but hey, she has a feeling the night guard is going to be keeping an eye on her for the next few weeks.

It’s funny; she feels paranoid, but it’s not paranoia if it’s true, right? After a few days of anxiously taking taxis everywhere, worrying that the cabby is on Falcone’s payroll, she allows herself the much cheaper danger of walking home. She’s heard a lot more suspicious noises on rooftops lately. Maybe it’s just wishful thinking, but it’s nice to pretend Calum is looking down at her from above and getting pissed that she’s on her own like that. Maybe if she starts waltzing into crack dens he’ll talk to her again. Maybe she’ll join a Russian roulette team.

Aspen toys with the thought of taking up cliff diving as she settles back down at her desk. The BAMF project is going swimmingly - they decided to use Tencel for the bandages and now she was helping to determine a good formula for the “healing fluid”. She loved doing R&D like this. It was only a mixture of salts and synthetic proteins, but she could make it sound like miracle juice. If she hadn’t been quite so observant that night, she would have been thrilled to be back down in the lab, doing what she loved.

But here she was.

It’s 4:30, and although it’s only a Monday she can still read the atmosphere in the lab. She’s not likely to be needed any more tonight. Plus, she’s gonna run out of mutilation-based sympathy at some point, she might as well use it while she can. “Hey, Ash, is it cool if I head out?” She says, rolling her chair over towards his desk. “I want to get my stitches out and there might be less of a wait if I go now. You know, so I miss the rush of all the people who also get off at 5 and need to get their stitches taken out.”

Ashton chuckles, putting the graph aside for a second. “Will you come in early tomorrow to score the mice?” He says, after a long moment.

Good. That’s good. She’s edging away from pity. “Yeah, sure, whatever you want. I’ll bring you something from the gift shop.” Aspen teases as she walks her chair back to her desk to grab her things.

It will be nice to come in early, anyways. She finds that she misses the half-hour of quiet she used to get before the day began. Being the first in the lab and checking up on the mice, changing their bandages and marking how they’ve healed, sounds really nice right about now. She’s always felt a bit of resonance with those little animals, anyways. She, too, is soft and skittish and just wanting to sleep in a pile of wood shavings.

As she enters the elevator, she lets herself think for the first time that maybe it’s good that Calum didn’t let her join him. It’s a thought that’s been hovering around the edges of her mind for weeks, but only now is it becoming concrete. She thinks she’s tough, sure, but she’s let herself be treated so gently the last few days and she’s starting to think she might miss it. Maybe she’s more delicate than she ever imagined. I mean, if she identifies with a mouse, how’s she gonna stand up to fucking Catwoman? Maybe Calum didn’t try to transfer her out of spite, or a pigheaded desire to protect her. Maybe he just saw something in her, some hairline fractures that would widen into faults under any pressure. Maybe he heard her tell Liam what time he got into the office.

Not that it mattered. She’d never see him again.

She had tried. The day she had been, uh, let go, she had tried to come back at the end of the day. Her excuse was that she wanted to say goodbye to Janet, but she was really hoping to talk to Calum about some of the evidence she had collected and just… make her case properly, she didn’t know. But when she had said hello to Jan, let herself be hugged and fussed over, once that was all out of the way, well… “He doesn’t want you up here.” Janet had told her, glancing at Mr. Hood’s office door. It was closed. Aspen didn’t know if he was in there, if he was listening. “He told me to tell you he was out if you ever came up. I’m really sorry, Aspen, but you know how he gets.”

It had been another blow, then, the kind that left you mercifully numb for a while before it started to hurt. “I understand.” She had managed, finally. “You’re just doing your job. Oh, my god, you’re gonna have so much work now.” And that had been that.

Now she wondered if it had been a test. If she was supposed to march in there and demand he at least let her talk to him, goddamn it, so she didn’t go crazy sitting on all this. But if it was a test, she had failed, and it was no one’s fault but her own.

It was nice outside, but windy, and on her walk to the hospital the breeze picked up her hair and whipped it around her face. She had started wearing it down more, at least while her cut still looked raw and meaty when it wasn’t bandaged up, but it was just getting annoying now. She wasn’t sure why she was even bothering to hide the cut. It wasn’t even that gross now, anyways, and if she could live with it so could that weird guy on the train who had stared at her so long he almost missed his stop.

The waiting room in Gotham General was busy, which shouldn’t have surprised Aspen. Shit went down in this city every single day. Maybe Calum had popped out on his lunch break to break a few arms. The thought of him in that Armani suit busting kneecaps was funny, making her bite her lip as she checked in.

He did that a lot, you know, she’d read an analysis of injuries attributed to the Bat. She was just thankful she had fallen stupid head over heels for a vigilante that practiced non-lethally. It made sense; he had an incredible position of power, and if he used that power to kill people who had been struggling all their lives - like, if he had killed the Joker she would have been cool with it, but the thugs, the kids like Liam… She wouldn’t have been able to stand for that.

She pulled a scientific journal out of her bag and settled in to wait. She wanted something good to bring up at the next lab meeting, put this period of weakness behind her. She had a feeling the efficiency of the collagen synthesis could be improved. They were currently using cultures of mouse fibroblasts to produce it, since using yeast hadn’t worked out, but she had seen some recent research on using insect stomach lining to produce another factor that hadn’t been viable in yeast models, and maybe if they -

Aspen heard a bang, far off, and jumped in her seat. So did the man next to her. Her heart started thumping, and she reminded herself that this wasn’t another incident. She wasn’t in any danger. She could hear yelling, back in the ambulance bays, but this was a hospital. Some people were scary when they were sick. There were people here trained to keep them and her safe. She should know, her grandpa had been dangerous in his last few days in the hospital, he had been a big football player (the shouts were getting louder) and in his last few days, in his last few days he had been so angry and he had to be restrained, she understood it could happen to anyone -

The bay doors were there one moment, and then she saw them bend. Aspen’s rising panic catches in her throat. It was happening again. She stands up, quickly, scrabbling in her jacket pockets for that knife. She had stopped carrying it a few days ago, feeling silly, but now, now - fuck, it really wasn’t there, why hadn’t she kept it - someone huge and hulking ran through the waiting room, yelling, screaming something, and burst through the sliding doors like the glass was just rain. It was over in a second. Aspen stands there, flooded with adrenaline, as a few orderlies and security guards chase after the woman. There are fat drops of blood among the broken glass.

The nurses are saying something to calm the room down. Aspen can’t hear it. Fuck, she had thought - she had really thought, for a second, that shouting, that something was for her. She sits back down. Her journal is all crumpled now.

Fuck.

But she stays. Some people leave, but she stays. She needs to get her stitches out, and anyways there’s nowhere safer when a big beefy thug is on the loose than the place said thug was trying to escape. Right?

Her name gets called soon enough, and she gets to wait a little longer in a little emergency room cubicle until a doctor can come and slip the stitches out of her face. The doctor’s a little shaken, too. She doesn’t make much small talk as she’s cleaning up Aspen’s face with an alcohol wipe. Aspen’s still sweaty and jittery. “I know there’s like doctor-patient confidentiality, but can I ask… is that lady gonna be okay? She just ran through that door like -”

“I’m sure she didn’t feel it.” The doctor says, setting the wipe aside. She’s still focused on Aspen’s face, she won’t look her in the eye for more than a coincidental fraction of a second. “You never saw someone on Venom before?”

“Venom?”

The doctor smiles. Her hands are cold. “You’re new to Gotham, aren’t you?”

“Yeah. I’m gonna have to start learning a little faster.” Aspen says, glancing at the blurry red line that was her scar in her own vision.

“Oh, I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to -”

“No, no, it’s okay. I’m very new.”

“I saw the report from when you got the stitches in. You’re very brave.”

“Thank you.” Aspen says, quickly. She doesn’t want to talk about that, just get the stitches out. “But, uh, what exactly is Venom?”

“‘S a drug. Only really around in Gotham. We’re trying to figure out an effective treatment for - depending on the dose, it can make you feel really strong and euphoric, and if you take enough it just - it has this unbelievable effect on the muscles. It’s incredible.” Aspen feels scissors snip right by her face, cold where they brush her cheek. “And we have no idea how to deal with it. Most people we just hold and put on a saline until they detox, but the ones who have OD’d - it’s hard to restrain them.” Aspen feels the threads loosening under her cheek. “This might hurt a little.”

Aspen white-knuckles the edge of the hospital bed she’s sitting on and holds her breath as the suture thread slips right out from under the skin on her cheek.

“Perfect. No bleeding, even. You took good care of it.” The doctor says, putting the suture aside. Aspen looks at it on the tray. It has a few bits of her face stuck to it, pieces of healing scabs. It looks so small.

As she says thank you and prepares herself to go, the doctor stops her with a look as she’s washing her hands. “The report said you saw the Batman?”

Aspen feels a twinge of pain, and curls a hand into a fist to try and hide it. “Yeah, he, uh, basically saved my life.”

The doctor turns off the tap. Her eyes are shining. Aspen wonders how young she is. “What’s he like?”

“Oh, uh… brisk, I guess.” Aspen blinks. “He didn’t really give me a chance to get my bearings, y’know, he just hauled me up and pulled me out the window. It was all really fast.” It’s different, telling this story to a stranger. She wants to make herself sound braver in it. Make Calum sound kinder. Well, he saved her life, that was kind. Easier, she guesses.

The doc is still looking at her expectantly. Aspen feels a little glow of pride, attaching herself to the Bat like this. She’s never really thought about him this way. “Um… He’s really caring, when you get down to it. When he took me to the squad car the cops had their guns drawn at first because, you know, he’s like a vigilante and all, but it really freaked me out. He got between me and them and made them put their guns down before he let me get in the car. He didn’t have to do that. I know the vigilante thing is kind of controversial, but I think he really is a good guy, you know?” She shrugs, wondering if her little smile gives anything away. That she knows him. That she’s fallen for him before.

“Wow.” Says the doctor. “Yeah, wow. That’s incredible. I’m so glad you’re safe.”

“Yeah, well, me too.” Aspen’s smile is easier, now. It feels different, without her cheek stitched up.

The doctor laughs. Aspen feels charming again, even with the scar. “Yeah, well, the next time you see him, tell him to look into that Venom stuff, alright? We could really use the - what do they call him, the - the world’s greatest detective on this case.”

“I haven’t heard that one before.” Aspen says, taking a step into the hallway.

“Well, it’s what they call him. Have a good night, alright?”

“You too!” Aspen gives a little wave to the doctor, and finds her way back to the emergency room exit. Someone has already swept up most of the glass.

It sticks in her mind as she begins walking to the subway. Someone should tell him. Bring his attention to this. A new street drug without a treatment was a bad thing no matter what, but if it made you strong enough to bend steel - Batman should turn some of his thousands of dollars in funding to that.

World’s greatest fucking detective. He couldn’t detect his way out of a paper bag.

That was mean. Aspen just thought that at him because she was bad. Probably if it was a big paper bag he could manage.

Anyway, it didn’t matter if she should tell him about it or not. Calum Hood had decided never to see her again, and it wasn’t like Batman had an open door policy.

Wait.

The Batman was supposed to be a ghost; you never knew where he was going to be. Except she knew, and the GCPD knew, that at the next major disaster he would be there. And he wasn’t going to ignore her if she showed up there, all cute and vulnerable without a bulletproof vest. He’d see she was serious. He’d see she could take the heat. And he’d see there was even a convenient project for her to work on to keep her cover.

Was she really going to do this?

Aspen took a deep breath. She didn’t have to decide now. If something came up, she’d think about taking that risk.

It was the kind of thing you couldn’t take back.

For the next few nights, Aspen compromised. She listened to the news while she was doing dry lab prep, and turned on all the notifications on her “Gotham News & Alerts” app, but she didn’t, like, start going out and trying to buy Venom right from the source. It gave her time to think. Really, it was bold of her to think he didn’t already have a crack team of biologists - just that he preferred the processing of the GCPD lab so they had it all recorded, maybe. He had to have a real reason for this, other than just... doing this to hurt her. 

She was working on her miracle juice when it happened, with the news on and some 80s pop playing overtop to help her focus. There had been a break-in at an upscale cocktail party, which was good, and a riot at the Arkham Asylum - nothing huge, that happened all the time. Batman probably didn’t get called for those. When the news came through, she almost missed it under her music.

“The small riot at Arkham Asylum-” Ha, Aspen thought, small riot. “-has escalated after Pamela Ivey, a.k.a. Poison Ivy, began to demolish the heritage building. Known for her control over plant life, Ivey has used her abilities to destroy the foundation of the building. No inmates are reported missing, but GCPD are suggesting that all citizens in the area begin evacuation to the city centre. We’ll bring you updates as they come, but for now, we turn to journalist and Gotham history expert -”

Aspen bit her lip and tried not to freak out. Just because it was the first disaster to come along since her painful rejection, that didn’t mean it was time to make her move. What was she going to do during a prison break, anyways? She didn’t know anything about working with psychiatric patients, or overseeing evacuations, or -

“Update now from Arkham Asylum, police efforts to control the plant growth are failing. Experts are now trying to evacuate the Asylum in preparation for controlled burn, but analysts are concerned that moving large groups of inmates might end up just like every other -”

Plants. Jesus Christ, she knew biology. She couldn’t believe it didn’t hit her sooner. Aspen squints at the news report and tries to do some on-the-spot identification. Her pulse was racing. Taxonomy had her pulse racing. She couldn’t believe it. Now she got why Calum did this.

She needs to focus. It looked like… like… It looked like jute. Okay, there was that. She knew the plant. She knew the plant! Fuck, okay, she couldn’t get ahead of herself. Focus. She had read something about jute recently, something as to why it wasn’t bigger as a source of natural fiber… part of it was the water required, part of it was… cold sensitivity. The plants didn’t respond well to cold! That was how they were gonna beat this without burning down a heritage building. Batman had to have something that could do that, right?

Oh my god. She actually had to do this.

Aspen takes a deep breath. She had thought that she would have a choice, when the time came. That she’d be able to weigh her options objectively, and maybe sit this one out if it came to that. But she couldn’t. Her mind was already racing. She’d stick a textbook and a cookie sheet in her backpack, improvise some armor. She should wear black. If they were evacuating inmates, she should plan for the worst, this was Gotham after all. She packed her pocket knife.

As Aspen hustled to the door, she paused with her hand on the knob. She should say goodbye to her roommates. In case -

No. She couldn’t. It might destroy whatever foolhardy courage had gotten her this far.