stranger things | dick grayson

thirty

He smirked and nodded before saying, 'Yeah, see you 'round.'

+

Eleanor entered the apartment slowly, giving a small nod to the service worker who stepped out into the hall to give them some space.

When her eyes landed on the young woman, who was only a few feet tall the last time they had seen one another, Eleanor felt her nerves settle ever so slightly. Now, she appeared to be only a handful of years younger than Rachel. Eleanor's stomach turned at the thought of Rachel but she quickly shook it off.

'Zoe?' Eleanor softly said and watched as she turned away from the window and faced her.

'Eleanor!' She said and rushed over. The older woman sighed in relief as Zoe hugged her. When her arms were around Zoe, Eleanor knew she wasn't going to have as much trouble as she thought she would convincing her to go with her.

'Hey, you remember me,' Eleanor said with a laugh and looked down at her with a smile. Zoe was only young the last time Eleanor had seen her, so young she still needed help going to the restroom. Now, she stood only a few feet shorter than Eleanor. 

'How could I not? You were like my sister growing up.' Zoe smiled a little but it disappeared quickly. 'My mum died, Eleanor.'

'I know, kid... I'm so sorry,' she murmured and gently cupped her cheek.

'It's okay... The drugs were gonna kill her at some point. I guess it all finally caught up to her.'

'Yeah,' Eleanor murmured, unsettled about hearing a child talk about their own mother in that sense. 'Uh, but listen, Zoe, your parents signed something years ago, and that's gonna let you come stay with me for a while. How does that sound to you?'

'Like I wanna go right now,' Zoe said softly.

Eleanor smiled a little and wrapped her arm around her shoulders. 

'Well we can't leave without packing your stuff,' she said and looked around the apartment. 'Anything you want to bring with you, we can pack up.'

'Dad said I shouldn't worry about all that stuff. He said always move with as little as possible,' Zoe explained and looked about at the stacks of books and small nick-nacks.

'Yeah well, your dad doesn't know what he's talking about. I'll have all of this stuff at the new place in three days,' Eleanor promised with a small smile.

Zoe grinned and looked up at Eleanor before saying, 'Dad says you got money?'

Eleanor let the laughter bubble from her chest and out of her mouth.

'Not at all, but I live with people who do. You'll like them, they're around your age, but they're gone away for a while so it'll be just you and me for some time. Is that cool?'

Zoe nodded, but Eleanor sat her down at the table, wanting to clear up as much information as possible before they got back to the chaos that was the Titans tower. She couldn't imagine how messy it was after one day of leaving Gar there on his own.

'Listen we gotta talk about some stuff about the new place,' Eleanor began and sat down next to her, crossing her arms and leaning back in the seat. 'My roommates they're... special.'

'How special?' Zoe asked and raised her eyebrow.

'Like, incredibly special. They have these powers...'

'Like Batman and Superman?'

'Exactly like Batman and Superman,' Eleanor said and nodded quickly. 'And I want you to know that I'm involved in that kind of life. Heavily. But I promise you no harm will come to you, I won't let it.'