I distracted myself with musings about my new abilities, how they worked, and my current limits.
I knew I was stronger than I used to be before, but not by much. Reinforcent carried through most of the river fight. I wondered what Batman's status looked like or the Flash's. He had to have Agility at over 10,000.
How he hasn't cleaned up Central City yet was a complete mystery to . For my money, I'd say he was getting kickbacks from the villains. How else could you explain the quarterly battles with the Rogues?
Stupid na, but the way.
If I ever beca that big, I'd co up with sothing cooler, not that I wanted to be so costud freak---
I was more preoccupied with my survival, which was riding on my new system. How much of a boost did each stat gain give, and how did my ta ability fit into all of this?
Did accelerated recovery an faster results at the gym?
I hoped it did.
By the ti the sun rose, I was in front of Sasha's building, playing with my knuckle duster. The bruising on my hands had fully healed, as had the cut on my trapezius and the rest of my body.
When I saw her, she was stumbling ho from a night of fun. She wore a low-cut dress, and her mascara was runny. I could tell she was high from the size of her pupils.
Her walking pace doubled when she spotted and spoke as I ca up behind her.
"Don't tell he sent you to straighten out?" She slled of booze and cigarette smoke. "How I spend my nights is no one's business. He knows how I put food on the table."
"He's just looking out for you," I said automatically. "And I'm not here to give you a lecture. It's about Ed."
She froze, then slowly turned around. The color drained from her face when she saw my face.
"No," she said firmly. "No!"
"I'm sorry."
The words ca out strangled and heavy, and she slapped . I saw it coming, but took it in stride.
"You knew what would happen! I told you two to stop ssing around! You could've stopped him!"
She tried to slap again, but I grabbed her hand, pulling her close.
"Eddie never did a single thing he didn't want to! And he did what he did for you?"
"I never asked him to!"
"He was tired of watching his sister fall apart before his eyes," I said. "You might not carry a gun, but your work is no safer than his."
She glared at like I'd been the one who did the slapping and pulled back. I released her.
"I never want to see you again."
"I'm sorry."
She stalked toward her building entrance, and I cursed. She was grieving, and I shouldn't have been on the offensive.
"Sasha!" I called out again.
"Get away from !" she yelled.
"Please, let's talk about this," I said, following her, but a familiar voice stopped .
"That's far enough, kid."
My Cursed energy spiked as I froze in mid-step.
"Tim," I said through gritted teeth. What was that asshole doing here!
"Missed you at dinner, Junior."
He had a stupid grin plastered across his face when I turned around. He was a larger man, standing well over six feet, with a knife scar running down his cheek.
My favorite theory of how he got his beauty mark was that one of his girls gave him sothing to rember her by before he sent her to her death.
Everyone in the Narrows knew how he made his money, except for my stepmom for so reason, and it wasn't because he was keeping it from her.
She just pretended he wasn't the monster everyone knew he was. He went after the girls who didn't know better and got them to push weight for him.
The won got the n hooked, and the girls climbed deeper into debt by snorting their cut and then so.
Once Tom got his hands on you, there was only one way out: a body bag.
I thought working in a bar owned by one of Penguin's Captains would have protected Sasha from his ambitions, but Tim either had more greed than sense, or sothing had radically changed since last night.
"What are you doing here?" I demanded, noting the slightly panicked look on Sasha's face.
"You need to go, J."
"I don't think I will," I insisted. "Shouldn't you be on Candice's couch, eating all of my good cereal?"
Tim laughed. "Funny you should say that. She asked to stop by the grocery store on my way back. Had to get up early enough to catch her. Sasha has been dodging ."
He walked over and wrapped his long fingers around her shoulder, and I exercised shocking levels of self-control by not decking him.
Besides, it wouldn't have helped with the real problem. Her debt.
It was a perfect excuse to recruit her.
"How much does she owe?" I asked Tim, and she snapped.
"I said, stay out of it! You've done enough."
"Yeah J," Tom laughed, pulling her closer, "stay out of it. Not like you can afford it. Shouldn't it be that tall retard defending his sister?" he asked, searching the street for Tom. Then, he took the ti to look at . The tears, the dirty clothes, the blood.
He whistled. "Looks like I wasn't the only one who had an exciting night. Maybe that friend of yours didn't die for nothing."
"Watch yourself, asshole," I took a step forward, cursed energy churning in my gut. He raised a brow at the display.
"I'm going to let that slide because I'm a businessman first. Five thousand. That's how much of my coke your dead friend's whore sister, snorted."
"Fuck you," I snarled, curse energy wrapped around my fists, patience thoroughly exhausted. I would've socked him, consequences be damned, if Sasha hadn't stopped .
"Don't you dare take another step, J," she yelled. "I said I'd take care of my shit, and I have every plan to. But for so reason, you can't seem to get that through your fucking head. You think getting your ass kicked by a guy three tis your size will sohow make up for the fact that you got my brother killed!"
"I--"
"That's what I thought?" she said. "Just go ho, J. I an it when I said I was done."
Her words hollowed out and cut straight through my anger. I was still on edge after last night, and losing Ed and gaining this new power was making a lot more emotional than I used to be.
Nothing short of killing Tim would make him forget the debt, and beating on him will only make Sasha's life more miserable.
Tim's day would co. But it wasn't today. The smart thing to do would be to pay the man.
The cursed energy faded. "You may be done with , but I'm not done with you. I promised Ed I'd look after you, and that's what I'm going to do." I pulled the three grand I stole from the dead bodies of Mark and Gabe and tossed it at Tom's feet.
He made a face, let go of Sasha, and picked up the cash, licking his lips with a grin.
He fanned himself with the money. "Color surprised. Maybe that big idiot didn't die for nothing. You've got a week. But I'll be expecting four thousand."
"Four?" I frowned.
"Of course. Debt goes up by one thousand every week. Isn't that the standard?"
He damn well knew it wasn't. He was punishing and making his plans for her very clear.
I glared at him.
"Well, this has been a productive morning. See you at ho." He winked at , tucked away his money, and disappeared around the corner.
Sasha finally spoke, shoving . "You couldn't help yourself, could you? You had no fucking right."
"Sasha…" I muttered, watching her walk away. She shut the door behind her, leaving alone on the street.
I let out a sigh. "Tim needs to go."
---
My foster mom was in the kitchen making pancakes when I walked in.
"Tim, is that you?" She called in an animated voice.
"No, Candice," I said. "It's ."
"Oh," she said, spinning around. We lived in a two-bedroom apartnt in one of the better spots in the Narrows. It cost an arm and a leg in rent, but it was much safer than the crowded apartnts in the seedier parts of the city.
"I didn't hear you step out last night," she said.
"Ed and I had a thing," I muttered as I headed toward my room.
"Did he get ho alright?" she asked, and I froze, looking up at her. She wore light makeup and work clothes, and I was a total wreck.
Fist red from the punching, face sared in specks of blood, clothes dirty and halfway dried.
"What happened?" she asked, putting down the ladle she used to mix the batter. She tried touching , but I held my hand out. She knew how I felt about intimacy.
I groaned, the next few lines of conversation playing in my head.
Candice was about to chew out for being a pickpocket and thief, and I was about to point out that she didn't make nearly enough to cover our rising cost of living, our apartnt, bills, and all of the many, many things I needed but never ca to her about.
Her boyfriends weren't the solution either. None of them were as bad as Tim, but she indulged them because of their wallet, and sooner or later, they figured out how much leverage they had on us and tried to abuse it. It was typically up to Ed and to put them out.
She didn't have the stomach for the life. I didn't bla her, but it seed comical that she relied on it when it was convenient.
"Do you really want to do this again?" I asked.
"Considering you're packing a bag, yes," she said, folding her arms. "No matter how bad things got between us, you've never left."
I stopped packing and pulled up one of the floorboards in the corner of my room, breaking out my ergency funds.
I only had four grand down there. I kept a thousand to myself and handed Candice the rest.
"What is this for?" she asked.
"I'd been hoping to have a lot more when I did this, but I suppose it's now or never," I sighed. "You need to leave Gotham. Tom is a monster, and it's ti you stopped pretending he isn't."
Candice twisted her lips. "I've heard the rumors about him. They're a bit farfetched, don't you think?"
"No. I don't think they are," I said. "He's got his eyes set on Sasha. He's going to whore her out, have her sell coke for him, and feed her until she drops."
Candice's face turned white. "I-I introduced them."
"Ed and I will handle it, and we can't have you in the middle," I said. "Things will get ugly. You need to leave. And it has to happen today."
She remained silent for a long mont before she spoke. "You're actually telling the truth, aren't you?"
"Yeah," I said. "I just wished you listened to three months ago when I told you the guy was bad news."
"You hate everyone I date, what was I supposed to think?" she defended.
"They're all criminal assholes!" I huffed.
"Gordie wasn't," she pointed out, and I waved her off.
"He was a cop. He's worse."
"Still. I should stay. I got Sasha into this ss by bringing Tim around. Maybe if I talk to him…"
"No," I cut her off. "You may not want to hear this, Mom, but I'm Sasha's best shot. Tim works for the Penguin, who has half of the police departnt in his pocket, and Batman doesn't take special requests. I'll clear her debt, get her out, and into rehab. Already got a place picked out."
She had a complicated look on her face. "You only call Mom when you're really upset. Just what happened last night?"
"Listen to , just this once," I pleaded.
"Whatever trouble you're in," she said, kneeling to my level, "we can figure it out together."
"We really can't," I said. "Please…" I squeezed her hand, and she nodded reluctantly. I handed her a phone.
"Call the number there if you need ," I said. "And take care."
She hugged . "I know you think I'm a terrible mother, but I really do love you."
"I know Candice," I muttered.
I left ho after a shower, a change of clothes, and a heavy lump in my throat. I crushed my old phone, snapped the SIM card, and pulled out a new one. I dialed a phone number I knew by heart—Artemis's.
It was only a matter of ti before Black Mask called Gabe and Mark and figured out sothing had happened to them.
He would want revenge, and Candice and Sasha were obvious pressure points he could use to force into the open. And while I'd love to get Sasha out of dodge, I had the feeling she wouldn't give the ti of day until I handled Tim.
I had one week before Tim's deadline, which was enough ti to learn my new abilities and devise a plan to defeat Black Mask.
Putting the fucker in the ground would probably take much longer, but a plan was a start.
The call went through, and Artemis picked up.
"What do you want?" she asked.
"That's the first thing you say to , seriously? We haven't talked in weeks."
"And you only call when you want sothing."
I scoffed. "Don't act like you're not the sa."
"Fair enough," she said. "But still haven't answered the question."
"et at Lowe's when school gets out," I said.
"What did you do now?" she asked.
"Just et there," I huffed, and she cut the call.
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