___________________
___________________
BROOKLYN'S POV
When I make my way back upstairs, they seem to have everything figured out.
I move back to my spot next to Wally as if I had never left.
It's only when he turns to me and jumps than anyone realizes, "Gosh, Cat, give a warning!" He exclaims, holding his chest.
"You have been friends with Nightwing for so long I figured you would be used to it," I say innocently before I smile, "Forgot you were a scaredy cat."
He scolds at this, but says, "We decided where everyone was going to go." I raise my eyebrow at him so he knows I'm listening.
"We are going to take Violet and Tara," Artemis answers for him.
"And Forager and Brion already live in Bioship so-"
"Forager and Brion will share Bioship with Alex!" Forager exclaims, much to Alex's dismay. He doesn't argue though, which I am thankful for.
"Luke said he would go back to Gotham, live with his dad, " M'gann says while looking at him. He nods at her words, telling me he agreed to this. He probably misses his dad and guilt rushes over me at the thought.
Jake always had a choice to go back, but he wasn't willing to leave me alone. It didn't make me feel better about the situation though.
"And you and Lily can stay in Gotham-" Conner says but, Alex cuts him off.
"I think I should also stay in Gotham with Cat," He says with an innocent smile.
The tension grows and I wonder if he knows the mess he is making for me to clean up or if he is seriously this dense.
"And Lily," Wally adds, his gaze set on Alex.
Wally is one of the friendliness people ever unless he is the tiny bit unsure about you, so it's a little shocking to see him staring Alex down.
"That's- yeah that's what I-"
"Alex?" I say, causing him to look at me slightly hopeful. Everyone else even tenses, looking to me to hear what I have to say.
"Yeah?"
"Shut up," I order, my patience running thin as I give him a hard look. He opens his mouth to say something, which only causes me to narrow my eyes at him, daring him to say one more thing.
At this point, I think if he did, it wouldn't be me or Dick to punch him but Wally.
A few people snicker at this, and Alex looks slightly embarrassed, but I have bigger problems to worry about.
"And I'm not staying in Gotham," I announce, causing confusion to fill the room.
When I don't offer up a reason, Wally rubs his neck,"Umm... Bludhaven then?" Wally suggests sheepishly as he glances to Nightwing who I am currently trying to avoid any contact with at the moment.
He hasn't said anything since we came back inside, standing next to Conner and Lily who seems to like the two of them a lot.
"I'm not staying in Bludhaven either," I say and cross my arms. "No Gotham and no Bludhaven."
If my friends were dumb and didn't know me, they might think it's because of Nightwing and I. Something petty and in our world, unavoidable. My excuse would be I don't want to run into him. But my friends are smart and they do know me.
That very reason is why I glance out the window, waiting for them to shoot out more ideas. But it's quiet, their gazes watching me and I swear I might just be set on fire by the intensity.
"Won't," Artemis says, "or can't?"
I don't say anything, which causes her to cuss under her breath as she realizes something the others haven't yet. I don't have to turn to know all of their eyes are now floating between us.
"You can't. You can't," She pauses, waiting for me to stop her from saying it. When I don't, she continues, "because you are being targeted again."
My body goes still as I muster up a poker face before I turn to her. My eyes meet hers before they flicker to everyone else then back to her.
I don't say anything. The words, the lie gets trapped in my throat. I can't lie to them.
I've disappeared without telling them what happened, I can't lie to them about it either. And I think they would be able to tell at this point. I'm emotionally and physically exhausted.
After a few heartbeats of silence and then registering what she said, Nightwing uncrosses his arms and walks out of the room without saying anything, without so much a glancing to me.
The action sends a painful pang through my chest as I watch him go before Wally mutters, "I've go it." And follows him.
"Oh! Forager is also a target!" Forager says, happy we have something in common.
Brion hushes him and Halo from saying anything as he watches the scene unfold.
I look back to Conner, Artemis, and M'gann, them all not bothering to hide the hurt in their eyes. The pain of me not trusting them with this.
"I just can't stay in Gotham or Bludhaven." Is all I say, because it's all I can say.
M'gann nods, "You are always welcome here, Cat. Always."
I nod and force a smile that I know they can see right through before Conner says, "Then it's settled. Why don't we try and move everyone in?"
"Jake, Violet and Tara can come with me," Artemis says, "I can drop Jake off in Gotham."
Conner nods in thanks before he looks to Forager and Brion, "Show Alex to his room?"
Forager clicks his tongue and says, "Of course, Forgaer is excited for another roommate. Aren't you Brion?"
Brion looks at Alex, and despite him seeming to have a rocky relationship with Dick, he says, "Ecstatic," His voice pure sarcasm.
When everyone clears out, It's just Conner, M'gann, Lily and I.
"Why don't you guys stay up here? We will be back soon. Just making sure they don't need help." M'gann smiles as Lily sits on the couch.
I nod, but I see through the lie. No one needs help. She doesn't want us down there for a specific reason.
Because Nightwing is probably on a rampage downstairs. Unless he left altogether.
It doesn't matter. Either way, he is going to be royally pissed at me.
And I don't think I would blame him.
______________
M'gann stays with me while Conner goes down to talk with Nightwing and Wally. They have been down there long enough for Artemis to take the kids home and come back.
"Will is watching them," She says when she walks in, her face grime as she probably just heard some of what the boys were talking about.
Lily is sitting on M'gann's lap, M'gann showing her martian tricks that make her smile in awe.
Artemis sits down across from me, and I look to her, already prepared for the look on her face.
"Brooke-"
"In coming," Wally says as he runs upstairs, and I hear Conner trying to hold someone back in the stairway.
I stand up, ready.
Soon after, he come back in, Conner glancing worriedly between us.
He stops, crosses his arms at me as he stares me down as if he is waiting for me to explain myself.
I don't, which probably pisses him off even more as I cross my arms at him too, mirroring his stance.
"Not going to say anything?" I say finally, and he tenses at my voice and the calmness in it.
"I don't know what to say. Shouldn't be surprised," He shakes his head, and I know he said those words because he knew they would hurt.
I can feel my facade slipping away and have to remind myself to keep it up as I sigh and say, "I don't know what you want me to say, what any of you want me to say."
"How about why you came back?" Dick snaps before anyone can say anything. I flinch at the sudden change in his tone, and so does Wally.
"Lily, why don't you go say hi to Wolf again?" M'gann asks kindly.
Lily looks between all of us before disappearing.
With her gone I turn my gaze back to Dick and say, "Why? Because you were an idiot and went to Santa Prisca!" I exclaim, anger breaking through despite me having kept it under control for the majority of today.
"And Ra's al Ghul told you that?" He questions, "So when Ra's al Ghul tells you to do something you do it, right?" He says before he adds, "Or was it you not trusting us to hand the Shadows on our own because you always have to be the one to save everyone? You have to be the one to risk their life."
"No," I shake my head, "Don't you dare throw that around like it's nothing," I glare, "And he didn't tell me about Santa Prisca. He contacted me right after you left him. I gave you a few days to figure it out for yourself but when you opted to go to Santa Prisca, I couldn't ignore-"
"So you were just watching and waiting for us to do what you wanted and when we didn't you stepped in?" He takes a step to me, but we have a couch in the way of us. Conner is on his side, looking at him warily and Wally is too. Artemis is at my side and so is M'gann but I don't think any of them are willing to speak up right now.
"If we had done what you wanted, you wouldn't have even said anything to us on the matter, would you?" Dick asks accusingly, causing me to glare at him even more.
"I don't view you guys as toys or soldiers, Dick. I wasn't watching you, I didn't even know where this house was, I didn't snoop, I didn't mess with your lives. I took the punishment from Ra's and-" I try to explain, but he cuts me off.
"Then how did you magically know when we would be in Santa Prisca?" He throws his hands up slightly, his eyes still focused only on me, his voice having raised a few notches.
"I got a call," I have to keep from shouting at this point as anger and frustration and adrenaline course through my body.
"From who?!" He questions, slightly confused because if it wasn't me or Ra's al Ghul then he didn't know who it was.
I shut my mouth, the sparks of anger dying out as he stares at me, waiting for an answer that I'm not going to give him.
"Bruce? Damian?" He questions, but I don't say anything as he shakes his head, "Damian doesn't even know about this. Who was it?"
I don't answer, my eyes never leaving his, as she stare at each other. The pain from him walking out is back now, in painful pulses, and I wonder how we fell so far from what we once were. How time could change us back to what we once were.
"Who was it, Brooke?" M'gann asks, her eyes looking to me for answers.
"Was it Barbara?" Dick asks, though a hint of hurt is in his tone, thinking it would be one of his friends.
My eyes fall to the floor before I look back up at him,"Dick-"
"It was me," Wally says, his eyes meeting mine before he looks to Dick. "I'm sorry."
Dick's eyes flash with hurt before he looks to Artemis who was equally shocked.
"You... You wouldn't let M'gann and I look for her," She says, piecing it together. "Because you knew where she was. You had contact."
He looks away, slightly ashamed before he says, "I'm sorry. But I couldn't let her disappear without backup if she needed it."
"I should have known," She shakes her head, before laughing slightly, humorlessly, "You didn't try to meddle in their relationship."
"You knew?" Dick questions, and Wally flinches.
"Dick-"
"He didn't know," I step closer to them, "I didn't give him a choice. I dropped a phone off for him and told him I was leaving in a letter."
Dick looked like he wanted to lash out at Wally and I remember him telling me that once Wally pushed him for putting Artemis in danger. While neither of them will actually hurt each other, it still makes me feel horrible that I caused a rift between them. It wasn't my intention, but I knew if Dick were in trouble then Wally would call me.
"Who else?" Dick asks, but his eyes are on Wally.
"Kaldur met with me, Wally had the phone. I haven't had contact with your brothers at all. Barbara knows but it's because she found me and I told her not to say anything." I say, and his gaze finally falls back to me. "It's my fault. Don't take it out on them."
He stares at me for a moment longer and then sighs and glances back to Wally one last time before he walks out of the room altogether.
"Why not us?" M'gann asks after a few moments, looking down at her lap. She looks up at me for a moment, "Why didn't you tell us?"
"It's not because I didn't trust you," I say, "I do, I just every single one of you with my life. But you guys would have stopped me. Wally would have too if I had given him a heads up. I couldn't risk it and I didn't want to put more people in danger than I had to."
"We are put in danger every day," Conner speaks up, his eyes meeting mine, "We get through it together. I know you have a hard time trusting, Brooke. But this was something you could have trusted us with."
I shake my head, allowing my facade to fall completely as I say," I do trust you all." My voice is smaller than I would like as I add, "But I will not put you in danger the way I did with Ra's al Ghul."
"Brooke-"
"You were kidnapped, Artemis," I snap, my eyes going to her, "I won't do it."
Not again.
________________________________
A/N:
before you guys say this is repetitive, this time it's different i promise lol but this is the life of a superhero sooooo
some of you guys guessed it because you guys figured cat loved him too much to actually leave anddddd
____
how are y'all feeling?
what do you think is going on?
who is out to get her now?
would you want me to continue this book into season 4? idk if y'all are tired of them yet
_____________
thanks for reading, don't forget to vote & comment !!
xoxo, author