Chapter 9: Unbrrrlievable
Gotham City, New Jersey
August 2, 5:47 PM EDT
No matter how many times I promise to get her brother out, Tuppence doesn't give me more than a few grunts the entire ride to the Atlantic. Hiding the truck a few few miles away was a smart idea and we didn't have to waste anytime stealing something new.
Something is always going to go wrong, may as well just start planning for it.
We already had to waste three days hiding out from the search parties and I'm very happy to finally be here. Once I drop Tuppence off, I can finally stop worrying about Sportsmaster hunting me down.
Pulling to a stop outside the Iceberg Lounge, I give her yet another sorry look. "I still have one more thing to take care of first. So let Cobblepot know he still has a few hours to decide on his commission."
It wasn't hard to get his number out of the book and he's expecting me around dinnertime. "But if you don't want to work for him while you wait for your brother..." Shifting awkwardly in the silence, I hand her the spare key for the truck. "You're free to go wherever you want. Just give this number a call when he's ready for me to get started."
"And the cash?" Her glare snaps behind me to the three garbage bags filled with bills.
"You can have it. No way the cops will let me keep it after tonight." That seems to finally convince her I'm not going to bail and she holds out a stiff hand.
"Thanks fer doing this Boss." She still hasn't called me by name and I'm starting to think it's just to maintain distance. "I kept expecting you to turn out like Pa."
Once my own farewell is given, I grab the suitcase with my share of gold bars. "Better not got caught while I'm in the slammer. You'll be on your own for that breakout."
"Don't get turned into somebodies bitch while yer in the big house." Her warning is delivered with a friendlyish sneer. "I won't be around to laugh at it."
"Glad you care so much." My dry response just gets a few dark chuckles.
"Can't pay me in Belle Reve, can ya?" Her hard stare makes me snort in laughter and force myself to march towards a neighbourhood I haven't seen in years.
Gotham is by far the roughest city I've stopped in so far and I'm forced to remove my hood within a few blocks. I'm too scrawny to make the gangs back off without a good look at my blue-grey skin and this just makes things easier.
I don't really have anyone I can trust.
But Artemis comes the closest to a good person that I know and if she ends up stealing the gold... at least it's going to someone in need.
Can let her dad know I'm fulfilling my obligation at the same time. Really don't want that bastard coming after me.
The apartment is the same rundown piece of crap the Crocks have always lived in but the street has noticeably less gang colours on display.
Guess Sportsmaster doesn't want to worry about his place getting shot up.
"And looks like he's going by a fake name." My eyes focus on the P. Crock with amusement.
Wonder what she's using?
Ringing the buzzer before I talk myself out of it, I wait with baited breath for an answer. The cities smog billows around me and makes it feel like perpetual dusk.
"Hello?" The middle aged woman's voice that answers, is definitely not Artemis.
"I think I have the wrong number,"
Sportsmaster wouldn't let one of his scores answer for him. "Sorry for disturbing you Mam."
The intercom crackles with static for a second and I'm about to walk away when she speaks again. "... Cameron? Is that you?"
"Uh..." I'm caught flat footed and have no idea how to respond.
Is Artemis using a voice changer?
"You better get up here and tell me what he wants." That command ends the call, with the buzzer letting me know I can enter.
Inside I try not to stare at the various stains on my way up to the third floor. Because once I do notice a weird one, I start to wonder if it's from blood.
I can feel eyes watch me from nearly every door and it's with great relief when I finally reach the apartment. It swings open when I'm only a few feet away and the woman calls out at me to close it behind me.
I recognize that voice.
The light in the kitchen illuminates the speaker and I blink in shock at the sight of Paula Crock.
She's out already?
"What do you want Cameron?" Artemis snarls before her mother has a chance to speak and I'm shocked to find an arrow pointed at my temple.
"I just wanted to see my only friend before I got locked up." Trying to play the bow off as a friendly joke, I point a cautious finger towards a chair. "See if you wanted to look after my sunken treasure for me. I'll even pay you a storage fee for doing it."
"We don't want your stolen money here!" Slamming her closed fist on the table, Paula draws my gaze back to her very angry face. "We're not living like that anymore."
"This gold isn't stolen, I swear!" I explain about my dive before Artemis' fingers slip, making sure they know it was unclaimed salvage. "I gave all the loot to Tuppence as a severance package before I came here."
The wheelchair bound mother scowls at me for almost five whole seconds before speaking again. "Would you like to stay for dinner Cameron?"
"Mom?" Gasping at the invitation, Artemis lets it slip she's been keeping tabs on my road trip. "After what he did in Vegas, how can you even be considering this?"
"Your friend is trying to do something nice for you before he serves his time." Paula seems to have figured something out from my tone or body language and I can just shake my head in amusement. "Let him and we can confirm his story once he leaves."
"... I guess." Sighing in frustration at that final word on the matter, Artemis makes me take the seat farthest from Paula. "But we aren't friends."
That rejection actually hurts and my face puts that on full display. "Ouch. That's colder than I am."
"You aren't just your dad's henchman anymore." Artemis finally gives me a reason for her disgust with me. "You chose to hurt people this summer and that's all on you."
She's not completely right about that. "I did come here for a reason you know."
But also not absolutely wrong either. "Your dad didn't really give me a choice." I mutter the last part under my breath and miss Artemis' alarmed look.
The spaghetti chills with each bite, my mind unable to focus with so many hard questions sent my way. Artemis' are a lot more pointed, with her blaming me fully for my choices. But Paula's tone softens by the time we start eating.
"I'm proud of you." Admits Paula with a sad smile directed my way. "You're trying to get away from the life and I only wish I did the same thing at your age."
"But what about all the-" Artemis tries to argue with that comment, but her mother silences her with a single fierce glare.
"Not now Artemis." The debate is ended with those words and Paula scoops a third helping onto my plate. "Eat up. You really aren't going to enjoy meals for a while."
Gotham City, New Jersey
August 2, 10:04 PM EDT
When the phone finally rings and Tuppence lets me know what Cobblepot wants, I give fond frewell to the Crocks. Of course when I ask to leave through Artemis' window, she decides to follow behind me with a stern glare.
"What are you going to do?" She blocks the window with crossed arms, waiting for something she knows I can't say.
"Something dumb enough to get the bats called." Getting arrested by a 'real' hero should really piss off Young Justice and I can't help myself from a final tweak of the nose.
"I can't let you do that." She informs me with no room for debate.
I really don't have time to argue so I distract her the only way I can think of. Thrusting my head towards her, she doesn't have enough room to back away from my peck on the lips.
"What are you going to do about it?" I have yet to turn around and see the vigilante gear in her closet. But I can tell by her expression she indeed has some very painful ideas.
Shoving the reddening girl to the side before she can show me, I roll out onto her fire escape. "Wait for me!"
That last comment only draws a scream of fury as I skate back towards the Iceberg Lounge at full speed. A giant penguin snatching a bat out of the air isn't going to be very hard.
But it's only going going to piss Batman off once he sees it.
Grinning with anticipation, I decide to add an egg laying robin free of charge.
He's already going to make me pay for entering city limits. May as well earn the black eye with something special.
Completely distracted by the time I reach the skating rink set aside for my work, I don't notice a costumed Artemis watching from the shadows. "He better keep his promise."
Cobblepot said he would provide my legal team for the sculpture and I don't have any better ideas. With more care than I've put into any piece of art so far, I create a nearly three story emperor penguin.
I also miss the bat signal lighting up briefly before getting shut right back off. But when I finish the eggs beneath the nesting bird, I do notice a shape approaching in the smog. "What's keeping the Bat? I didn't come all this way just to let Red Arrow catch me."
"How about me?" An arrow nicks my right ear as Artemis finally reveals her presence.
"You're perfect!" I recognize my childhood friend instantly and smirk at the bow in her hand.
I throw the fight by a country mile, making sure to leave the street covered in ice by the time I'm 'panting' on my knees. When the onlookers gasp at the suddenly visible aircraft, I swiftly raise my hands over my head.
"Clear the streets, we have this handled now!" Orders Red Arrow the second his feet touch the pavement, only to snarl in fury. "Who is she?"
"A real archer." I wink at her before turning back to my summer long pursuer. "It took me a while to finally find one.:
Pointing finger guns at the sputtering Red Arrow, I allow the cops to cuff me. "Hope you didn't waste too much gas on the trip. But Young Justice just didn't have what it takes to catch me."
