0005. CHAPTER FIVE
— rekindled friendships, if you can call it that
AUGUSTINE FINLEY OFTEN FELT THE ONLY WAY SHE COULD EXPLAIN WHAT LIFE WAS LIKE WAS A REVOLVING DOOR IN ALMOST ANY MALL. People come and go, some more than others, but without fail people are going in and people are going out. Life was just the same, some people stayed longer than others. But either way, in the end, everyone will end up alone. At some point, the mall clears and people look up, look out at a vast array of nothing and realize that they're alone in this world. Alone in trying to figure out how to take on life. Or maybe Augustine Finley had a shit hand dealt her by the fates and had no one in her corner anymore. Growing up she did, she could go to her mother or Dick for anything she needed. But now? Now, her mother was working herself to her wit's end and Dick Grayson was merely the name of her childhood best friend who she had seen for the first time in years the day prior. Perhaps Augustine Finley was cynical with her outlook on life because she felt alone. Not everyone was going to feel that way, she shouldn't feel that way. She wasn't alone, she had Roy and Nic, not to mention Lian or Nic's friend Caroline. Augustine had a good handful of people she could rely on, yet she still felt like she was alone.
Children oftentimes romanticize a certain type of their future, one where the people most important to them then are still the most important to them. Augustine thinks that's the root of her problems. The most important people to her from the age of eight to about nineteen were her mother and Dick (Bruce, Alfred, and Margaret were all also there, they had all stayed in touch with her throughout the years), so not having them in her life as she accomplished her life goals was unnerving. It wasn't right. When Augustine Finley closed her eyes as a child and finally went to sleep, her dreams of the future were filled with ideas of how her mother would (could) be different in her life. Dreams where her best friend was by her side (it was when she turned twenty-two that she realized in part, her dreams of him were in a romantic sense, but she had never been in love with him, maybe it was just an attachment she had to him), everything was different yet so similar to what happened.
Augustine Finley dreamed of a life full of perfection as a child, she knew it was never going to happen. Nothing in this world is perfect, that was clear to her.
She settled with what she had, she was perfectly fine with what she had (or at least, that's what she told herself). Going home from the job she had always wanted to do (despite the fact that she was only a resident, though technically she was just an intern for two more days) to a man who loved her and a kinda-sorta daughter that would giggle as she jumped into her arms. This was a life that was everything she had ever wanted it to be; Augustine wanted a life where she came home to people who loved her. People thought about her throughout the day, everything she never had while she was growing up. It was the life she had always wanted, yet in her heart of hearts, Augustine knew it wasn't right. Not that she listened to a thing it said, Augustine Finley was never the one to listen to her heart. She had learned from a young age to follow her gut instinct, it never veered her down a wrong path. Later on, she discovered it was a part of her powers — that ability to tap into reality played into a major part of everything she did even subconsciously. It was screaming at her now, telling her to turn around and go back home. To return to the life she had built for herself, not to question everything.
Don't overthink the world that was once so comfortable.
Yet, she couldn't help it. The thought had come from her own mind much like Athena from Zeus, now it was there and it wasn't going away. It had put down roots right inside of her heart, weaving their ways through her vessels until it reached her brain where it began to scratch and scratch until she recognized something was eating away at her. Augustine was never the one to run away from pain, although, it was a constant in her life. If it wasn't physical, it was emotional, she knew how to hide it. She knew how to lock those fears away, how to push those feelings of things being wrong away. Augustine Finley knew how to make herself feel comfortable in the life she was living by pretending nothing was ringing the alarm bells within her. Growing up in the spotlight, thrust into a world where cameras and stories would follow her until the day she died, she was good at putting on a smile. Placing one on her face and letting the world believe she was happier than ever, she had been doing it since she was a child that had watched her mother narrowly escape death the night before. It wasn't anything to hide the doubt that festered within her.
Of course, it wouldn't be anything to hide it from the people who didn't know her. No one knew the real her except for three people: Dick Grayson, Margaret Halliwell, and Roy Harper. She found it ironic that Roy was one of the few people who knew who she was inside and out. How to read her like an open book, yet he wasn't able to see this part of her (or, maybe, he was pretending to not see it in order to save himself a world of pain). Dick Grayson surely had, he took one good look at her the next morning after she woke up and knew something was eating away at her. The way she was smiling at Dawn wasn't how she normally did, nor was her laugh, and she gripped her coffee cup the same way she did when she was stressed during high school. He fought the urge to say something, make a comment, and ask what was bothering her. Because he knew it wasn't his place anymore — he didn't have the right to speak to her as if she were still his best friend. He was the one who fucked that all up.
But he still knew her. And he knew she was hiding something from herself that was going to get her one day. It always does.
Dick grabbed a mug for himself, pouring in the coffee, "Did I miss anything?"
Augustine watched as Hank rolled his eyes, "No."
Hank followed up on her answer, "What would you have missed?"
Dick looked at the table now full of empty plates that had trace bits and pieces of a food — the only remnants to show that they had had breakfast. He narrowed his eyes at the sight, glancing back to the four people sitting around the table. Leaning against the kitchen counter, he kicked one of his feet over the other and sipped on the coffee. Augustine bounced her leg quickly, silently begging for someone to speak and fill the silence. She had never been the one to enjoy the silence — it was uncomfortable, growing up in her household it normally meant something went wrong. Harlow Finley was typically a person of many words, she always had something to say. So when the house was silent it could have meant a few things, but oftentimes it meant something went wrong and her mother had been injured. While now it's not such a scary thought, Augustine couldn't help but still feel like the ten year old little girl who was terrified of the void that silence filled because it meant she could be losing her mother. Granted, a mother who didn't do much to mother her, but she was still someone Augustine cared about. Enough to worry over her each and every night she went out. Enough to think about bending her rules, her guidelines for how she wanted to live, to ensure she was okay. In all of her life, there had only been a few times that Augustine got close to saying fuck it. To throw caution to the wind and joint what felt like the family business (even more so now that she knew who her father actually was, perhaps this was a birthright at this point), once was after her mother nearly died at the hands of the Joker, the second was when Dick had almost died at the hands of another Gotham rogue, and the third was that one time a gala she attended was crashed by the Joker.
To be fair, Augustine was sure if she hadn't turned after that last reason, she would never turn into what she feared being the most. But sitting in this room, sitting in front of Dick Grayson who had always put being a hero and getting his vengeance before anything and anyone else, it made her think about it again. Was she right for always pushing it away? Or would she have been able to keep her best friend if she had followed in their footsteps. That question haunted her every minute of every day. It was something she was too afraid to ask, like many things were now. But it was something she thought about often — something she wished she didn't think about. It's not like she wanted to be one of those people who was hooked on a single thought. She was better than that (though, in reality she knew she wasn't, it was normal human behavior to think about the things someone did wrong when friendships are lost), she didn't need to spend her time worrying over things like that. Besides, she had made a good life for herself, right?
Like a moth drawn to a flame, Augustine found herself in this perpetual loop of questioning herself and the things she has. Not much different from a simple biological feedback loop, she gets an answer and goes right back into the cycle of questioning. Only to find that the answer is the same in most of the loops and they all come back to a simple answer: she has a good life. A boyfriend who cares for her, treats her as if she's the person who makes the sun rise every morning. As if she placed every star in the sky, he treats her the way she imagined someone would treat her. Like a princess ripped straight out of the pages. Augustine wasn't one to glamorize their entire relationship, it had its hardships along the way. They were much younger when they first took a stab at one — young enough to not know how to be in a relationship, let alone know how to be themselves. What she had now, with the version of Roy Harper that stood in this world now, was entirely different from back then. Because then she was barely nineteen (and twenty in Roy's case), she was dealing with losing her best friend and Roy became someone (along with Wally) that she ranted to. But Roy at that time wasn't interested in a relationship, he wasn't interested in much other than himself and how he could feel good. Augustine loved to talk about where their relationship was now, she had no issues going on and on about her fairytale life to people at galas. Besides, every fairytale told to children are all based off of darker fables. Roy and Augustine's wasn't as dark as those, it just involved a lot of time of self growth that was needed and necessary. Roy needed to get help, he was the only one who could convince himself that he needed to get clean. And Augustine had to relearn her self worth at the age of twenty-one — she had let it run away from her as Roy ran circles around her and Jade. In came Lian, that was the tip of the iceberg for Augustine that sent their first shot at whatever it was downhill.
Augustine couldn't even call it a relationship because they had never spoken about whatever they shared then — they had never fucked, never expressed any feelings, but at that time they had shuffled around each other and shared glances across the room. Two lost souls looking for solace in people who they knew didn't know where else to go. Yet, nothing came from it except for a world of pain for Augustine and a whopping can of get your ass straight or else for Roy. And couldn't explain what it was that brought them back together all those years later (it was two years, three months, and four days later, not that she was counting). Fate always had a way, at least that's what her mother told her after they had dinner one night. The right people always come back to you in the end, if they aren't the person, they'll leave the same way they came in. Augustine held a large amount of respect for her mother, but that only made her question things. Her mother wasn't the type of person who was good with relationships. Let alone the one to know that the right person will come back.
Especially when she knew her mother still had hope that one day, Bruce Wayne would turn around and realize how much he missed Harlow Finley. Something Augustine knew was true, he thought about her every minute of every hour of every day. His thoughts were loud for a man of such a stoic nature, to the point where she was never able to drown them out. Long before he had ever said anything, long before her mother sat Bruce down and told him the truth, Augustine found he had an inkling. A thought that screamed at the back of his mind, the longer she was around the louder it got. The more he got to know her, the louder it became. Bruce Wayne wasn't described as the world's greatest detective for nothing, he knew long before Harlow Finley ever acknowledged it herself that Augustine was his child. And Augustine knew it too.
Much like a moth drawn to a flame, Augustine felt herself listening into Dick's minds. It was something so routine, so normal for the life she was thinking about that it happened without much of a second thought. Normally there was more of a struggle to get in, Dick Grayson was not the easiest person to read. Especially on accident. He was prone to not believing in powers (Bruce's influence) and he hated anyone getting into his head (again, Bruce's influences). Funnily enough, Augustine always found his thoughts to be quiet. She liked to think it was that idea of loud personality, quiet mind for him and the opposite for Bruce — while she could listen for hours on end to Bruce think and learn things she probably shouldn't know about the league, she had to listen harder to understand anything specific that Dick said. So when she got in without trying, she was fast to glance over. His eyes were already looking right into hers when she did so, mind calling out, 'You don't look alright, what's wrong?'
'Are you saying I look bad?'
'No,' Dick sipped on his coffee, shifting so his other left was kicked over the other, 'You look exhausted. Like you have a million thoughts rolling through your head.'
'That's poor wording, there's always a million thoughts rolling through my head.'
Fighting back a sigh, Dick tilted his head, 'You know that's not what I meant.'
Looking down at her own cup of coffee, Augustine let her fingers tap on the ceramic mug. She knew he was right, she hadn't been able to get a lick of sleep or stop these thoughts from popping up like a game of whack-a-mole after he called. It didn't help that work ran her to her wits end and left her a shell of a person either, it all was adding together to make her exhausted and others could see it. 'Yeah.'
'You're sure you're okay?'
Glancing back up to him, 'I'll be fine. Don't worry.'
Pursing his lips, Dick nodded. Dawn glanced between them, noticing the slight purple hue to Augustine's eyes which caused a smirk to form on her lips. Bringing her hand up to cover her lips as she cleared her throat, Dawn diverted their attention over to her, "So, I was planning on taking Rachel out with me as I ran some errands. August, do you want to come along?"
Augustine looked down at her nearly finished cup of coffee and shook her head, "No, you guys go. I need to think some things through about everything, it'll be better for me to do that now that way we can start teaching you some tricks tonight. Does that sound good, Rachel?" The girl nodded her head quickly, Augustine returned her enthusiasm with a smile and reached her hand out. Rachel was quick to grab hold of it, Augustine knew she was seeing more of her past (something that she figured Rachel would be seeing a lot of over the course of helping her). "Okay, we'll plan on that, then."
Hank stood up from the table, putting his bowl in the sink and turning back to Augustine, "How long are you staying anyways?"
"I don't have that much time off of work," Augustine chuckled, taking her hands away from Rachel's. "I'll have to drive back to Gotham in two days, I have a shift in three."
"You used vacation time for this?" Augustine knew the tone he was using and the reason as to why he was using it. He was shocked that she would use vacation time for a man who had treated her like the way Dick had. Everyone in the Titans knew what happened between them, they watched it from the other side. They watched as Dick shoved everyone away, especially Augustine. Dick gave him a glare, making Hank shrug, "To each their own, I guess."
Augustine stood up as well, "I haven't used any before, plus I've taken so many peoples shifts, I have a few to burn through and people who owe me favors."
"Figured you would have saved them for someone with Roy or Lian, though," A shrug fell from the man's shoulders as he spoke, Augustine felt her heart sink a little. That's probably what Roy had thought too. Then she went and dropped everything, using vacation time for the first time in her career as a resident (considering she had moved from her intern year to being a second year resident within the past few weeks), for her childhood best friend that she hadn't been in contact with in forever. A frown formed on her lips, making Hank recoil, "But, it's good that you're here, you know? Rachel she, uh, she needed someone who knows about powers. So, yeah, it's a good reason for using your days in the end."
"Yeah," Augustine sighed, nodding to his words as if she was trying to convince herself that he was right (and she was — something she was struggling with doing). "Yeah, it's all for a good reason, isn't it?"
Rachel gave her a tight lipped smile before following Dawn out of the kitchen, Augustine's eyes followed them both as the older woman grabbed her bag and waved goodbye to the three still in the kitchen. The door slammed soon after Augustine looked away, glancing between Hank and Dick with a sigh. Staying silent, they both watched the blonde as she gracefully made her way through the kitchen and placed all of her dishes in the sink. Clearing his throat, Hank tried to break some of the tension in the apartment (it was clear that he and Dick had things that needed to be said, as well as Augustine and Dick needing to say quite a bit to each other, but none of them wanted to say a thing), "I'm hitting the gym, so, uh. Spare key is on the counter if either one of you leave, not much in the fridge, but. Yeah."
Augustine nodded, "Sounds good."
Dick wordlessly nodded, his way of letting Hank know he heard what he said without having to speak. They both watched him as he grabbed his duffel bag and made a b-line for the door, quick to leave just as Dawn was. Leaving two people who probably shouldn't have been left together alone. Augustine Finley was never the type of person to get angry, at least not if she could help it. The lone thought of losing control at the hands of her emotions terrified her, so getting angry was something she tried to keep from happening. It wasn't hard, not really. She knew herself better than anyone else, what her triggers were and what to do to help it. Not much different from watering a plant — if she watered her anger then it would continue to grow and if it continued to grow then, well, a sea of purple would come about. For a moment, although, Augustine felt her composure slip and her will to fight for it to come back was slowly diminishing. Watching Dick bite at the insides of his gums as he rolled on the balls of his feet irked her. Like that one student who sat right behind someone in class that continued to smack on their gum. It was one small thing that Augustine couldn't help but narrow her eyes at, annoyance settling deep in her bones. She knew in her heart of hearts that there was a deeper meaning. All of the anger she had felt towards him, every thought and emotion that she had pushed down until it went away (or at least until she thought it went away), came bubbling back to the surface.
The reminders of what it felt like to lose her best friend with no reason — of what it was like to call him, only to reach his voicemail, just to open up Instagram and see he was with the team. Or what it was like to text Donna, trying to make sure he was okay after they had a mission and he wasn't answering. How it felt to sit back, worried that her best friend might have died, only to learn that he was ignoring her entire being. Taking in a deep breath, Augustine fought back the tears that were pooling in her eyes. Dick watched her carefully, mouth opening to speak only to be shut down by Augustine's quick jab, "Don't."
"August," Dick sighed, moving from the other side of the room to be closer to the blonde woman.
Taking a step back, Augustine shook her head fervently, "Do you realize what all you put me through?"
Augustine knew all of his telltale signs, she knew what each sip of his brow meant or what frown went with which emotion. She watched as his eyes hardened, frown deepening in a way that she couldn't recognize. Maybe she didn't know him the way she thought she did. Thinking about it, maybe he was right. Dick Grayson had changed and it clearly wasn't in the way that Augustine wanted it to be. He sighed, hand pinching the bridge of his nose, "August, I didn't-"
Augustine was quick to respond with a finger pressing on his chest, anger flaring within her, "Don't give me any of that 'I didn't mean to hurt you' bullshit, Grayson. You made the decision to stop talking to me. You. Not anyone else, you made the fucking decision to not even give your best friend a goodbye. Figured it would be better to cut ties completely, no explanation needed. Thought you could move to a new city with a new team and you didn't need the best friend who refused to be a part of this life. Why even bother telling her that, what does it matter anyway? She doesn't care. She's not texting me at least once a week trying to keep in touch, she's not asking me how my week was, she's not checking up on me after missions we had. And she's sure as hell not going to be angry when I call her out of the blue after years asking for help when I easily could have called a number of people that I didn't destroy my relationships with this."
"I didn't want you to see what I was turning into, August."
"That should have been my fucking choice to make, Dick, not one you made for me." Dick wrapped his hand around Augustine's wrist, pulling it away from his chest with a sigh. Augustine felt that bubble pop again, "I can't tell you how many times I need my best friend to go to, Dick. Yet every single fucking time I turned around fully expecting to see you there. Or at least to hear your voice, you were never there. And I couldn't go to the manor, it wasn't the same without you there. Alfred and Bruce, they were, it wasn't right. You cut me out and suddenly I was losing people who like family to me, not to mention I find out some other shit and the only person who I wanted to call and rant about it to was you. But you never answered any of my calls."
"That's not true," Dick interrupted, Augustine was quick to shy him a glare as her eyes shifted to have a purple hue to them. "August, you and I both know that's not true. I did answer some of your calls."
"Whoop-dee-fucking-doo, you picked up phone two times at the least," Augustine looked down at her hair that was turning white (eventually meaning it was on the process to turning purple, something that hadn't happened in a while). She watched as Dick's face morphed into something else at the sight of her hair, he stopped dead in his tracks eyes glancing from her hair back to her in worry. In a short way, something that made Augustine want to laugh, he knew he was screwed. The only times Augustine ever let her powers take over was when she was angry, he knew that. "Doesn't change the fact that you fucking dropped me out of your life, Dick! You did that and suddenly I lost not just my best friend but his adoptive father who I came to for advice and Alfred. And you know what, losing Alfred like that fucking hurt, Dick. Of course, turns out I kept up with both of them more than you did. Except for the trust fund, right? You could drop everyone from your life but the money is still fair game, isn't it?"
"Don't act like you're better than that," Dick snapped. "You have a trust fund with at least three more zeroes than mine. Don't pin that on me."
"Yet, I've kept up with my mom the best that I can. So," Augustine shrugged, walking closer to Dick as her hair took a purple hue. "Besides, if you really want to go that way, Dick, we can. My last name is Finley, my many times over great grandparents helped to build Gotham. Created a multibillion dollar company that is still standing today, sure, I'm not taking over the business but one day I'll be majority owner. So, if you wanna push that line Dick, go ahead."
Dick let a huff leave his chest, "Roy was right, you have changed."
Augustine sucked at her teeth, "Yeah, well, so have you."
Their words came to a standstill, with silence filling their senses, everything else in the world came to a stop. Augustine bit on her tongue, closing her eyes. Almost willing this situation to wash away like a dandelion waiting to be dispersed by the wind. To have its seeds picked up, plucked by a gentle breeze and slowly whisked away to somewhere else. Could be merely right in front of her or tens of feet away. All she knew is that she needed this out of her soon or she was going to lose herself to her anger. Something she had been keeping at bay. Pushing and pushing down until she could forget about it, forgetting that the longer things are pushed down. The longer things are kept locked away, only to suddenly be opened up, the harder it is to put them back. Things expand and Augustine Finley knew that first hand by now. Dick dropped his hand to fall by his side, "Look, August."
"Save it," Augustine threw a hand up in frustration as she bit back the tears that were eating away at her. She felt her chest flare in something between anger and sadness — a feeling she had felt plenty of times before but was never able to put a name to. Debating on whether she should say what she was thinking, her thumb made its way to her lip. Gnawing on it as she stood in thought, she felt her chest flare in pain again, making her wince. Dick took a step closer, hand reaching out to grab her arm for a moment before he dropped it. Taking in a deep breath, Augustine focused her attention on Dick, "Listen, maybe you were right. Maybe I didn't want to see you like this, maybe it was for the best that I didn't watch as you changed into this. But it should have been my fucking choice, do you understand that? I'm not an idiot, Dick, I know that friendships end. I mean, who do you take me for? It would have been better to let me walk out of this, it shouldn't have been a choice you made for me."
Her bottom lip shook as she looked up at Dick with glassy eyes, he stared back at her with a blank expression. She let out a laugh of disbelief as she took a few steps back from him, voice loud enough to where he could still hear her but low enough to where he had to lean in, "I shouldn't have answered, should've told Roy to end it when he said it was you. But some part of me hoped that the best friend who took me to prom would be the person I saw, the best friend who held me when I cried over my dog dying, the best friend who held my hand as we walked through a park to keep me safe, the best friend who always hugged me when I did well on a test. I was fucking stupid for believing he could still be here, I've seen the news. I watched what Robin turned into, I knew. Yet I thought, I thought that."
"What?"
"Nothing," She shook her head, turning on her heel to walk back to the room.
Dick latched onto her wrist, "August, please. Don't walk away."
"Hurts, doesn't it?"
In a small whisper, a low tone that she wouldn't have picked up on if it weren't for the dead silence in the room, "I miss you." She turned around, eyes wide as he looked back at her. "You're right, I shouldn't have stopped talking to you like that, August. You were, are, my best friend. No one has ever been able to understand me the way you have and it scared me."
"That's a sorry excuse for an apology," she pulled at her sleeve to rub at her nose.
Dick rubbed the back of his neck, "Never been too good at those."
"Got that from Bruce, I suppose."
"Not the only thing I got from him," Dick muttered.
"That's about one of the only things I didn't get from him," Augustine said in response, which made Dick's brows furrow together. He glanced back at the girl who's hair was finally returning to its natural color (a slight purple hue to it, like what happens when people leave purple shampoo in for too long and it turns a silver that looks purple in a certain type of lighting), a frown playing on his lips. Mirroring the frown, Augustine tilted her head, "What?"
"Why would you have gotten anything from Bruce?"
An incredulous laugh left her, "You're kidding, right? Bruce didn't tell you?"
"Tell me what?" Dick braced himself for something crazy — like he was dying or that someone else had died.
Augustine raised her brows in thought, "He's uh, how do I put this?"
"Put what?"
"Bruce is my biological father."
A beat. A pause. Silence. Augustine could only laugh at how absurd the situation was — a mere minute ago they were at each others necks and now it was back to old times. Watching as Dick stood with his mouth hanging wide open, shock apparent on his face. Blinking rapidly to get himself back on track he pointed at the woman, "You're fucking with me, right?"
"Why the fuck would I joke about that, Dick. It's an unfortunate situation as is."
Dick sighed, "So you're."
"Yeah."
"Which means," Dick spoke again, "your mom and-"
"Alright, we're done here for today," Augustine turned on her heels. Dick shook his head, grabbing her wrist playfully. She sat back down at the seats she used earlier in the morning. "But yeah, that was a weird dinner that I got called into."
"They decided to tell you over dinner?"
"Well, officially anyways," Augustine shrugged in response to Dick's confused look. "Bruce's mind was always one of the easiest to read, it was so loud. I think I knew for a lot longer than he ever admitted it to himself."
"That's," Scratching at the back of his neck, Dick shook his head. "That's something."
"It's surprising, that's for sure. At the same time, I felt like it cleared up quite a bit."
"Like how you and Bruce would find the same thing that wasn't funny at all absolutely hilarious?" Dick raised a brow as Augustine leaned over to push his shoulder with a roll of her eyes.
"Shut up."
"I'm being serious," Dick laughed in response, "you two had so many similarities, I can't believe I never picked up on it."
"Says the man who acts as if he's not like Bruce at all," Augustine glared in response to his words, her arms crossing over her chest.
"Take that back."
Tapping her finger against her chin, Augustine pretended like she was thinking about it. But, they both knew better than that. Dick was expecting the words to leave her mouth before she could even think them through, "Make me."
A beat. A sigh. And a roll of his eyes, "You're trouble, you know that?"
"Always have been," Augustine tried to respond back with a quip, only for the two to make eye contact and burst out in laughter. She had never been the one to be considered trouble. Especially not when they were growing up. Augustine Finley had always been a people pleaser, the person who put on a smile even when the world around her was crumbling. Her media training taught her well enough — she knew better than to cause a scene at anything. From a young age she had been taught how to act, how to speak, how to live the way the public expected someone of her status to live. Trouble wasn't in her nature, she was soft spoken and easy to get along with. She had to be. Or at least, she used to be soft spoken and easy to get along with. The trouble settled in a little bit later. After she lost her best friend who embodied all of the trouble needed for the both of them (and then some). Not to mention her job required her to have a backbone, something rigid where people couldn't take advantage of her. Augustine Finley hadn't always been trouble, that was damn sure. But, she sure as hell was now.
Anyone with eyes could see the Augustine Finley standing in front of them was confident and sure of who she was. In comparison to who she was ten years prior, that was an improvement. She wasn't going to take no for an answer (something her mom instilled in her) and she sure wasn't going to bend over backwards to make the public of Gotham happy. Thinking about it, that might have been the exact reason for why she hadn't gone to a gala after her return. She was too afraid of being in a room full of everyone who wore fake smiles and gave compliments they never fully meant. People who would gladly stab her in the back of it meant they could get a taste of the power she doesn't use. Augustine Finley wasn't blind, she knew the influence that fell right at her fingertips. Her family stemmed from one of the richest families ever. Not just in Gotham, not just in the state of New Jersey, not even in the entire country. She was up there, in a percentage that most people could only ever dream of having. Augustine knew exactly what the upper class of Gotham thought of her. They found her weak, because why else wasn't she taking advantage of her name? A part of her liked to think that she had realized what was more important than money — she was happy with her life, content with what she was doing. Why take more than what she needed? It's why she was so quick to sign checks and donate to the people who need it more than she does.
The people of Gotham didn't quite agree with that thinking, actually, a lot of people don't agree with it. But sitting there, Augustine knew that there was one person who would always understand her reasoning. Dick Grayson may not have been born into a family like hers, but he was brought into one. Actually, they liked to joke about it when they were growing up, but he somehow got the more powerful out of the two prominent families in Gotham. Augustine thought the Gotham elite didn't like her, but god was she wrong. They put her on a pedestal in comparison to the boy who would be getting everything from Bruce Wayne. Of course, that never stopped them from throwing their sons and daughters at Augustine and Dick. Hoping that a connection would spark and suddenly they would be set for life. It never worked — something the elites also got mad about. Augustine could count on both of her hands the number of times they had ever said something good about her. Most of the time the rumors and talk that went around those circles had nothing nice to say about her. Especially after she started dating Roy, the conversation shifted to how it should have been expected she would date someone like Roy Harper. Someone who had been adopted by a man who had more money than them. That that was all she was there for — making the right business investments through her dating habits. That's why she never dated their children, they weren't a good enough investment for her. All of which were things that rolled right off of her skin, she closed her eyes and shut it all out.
Until word went around those circles (something she was just about ready to break, tired of seeing them spin and spin with little to no consequences) that the only reason she was friends with Dick was for the money. That of course she would be with Roy, don't you know her type? Augustine Finley is only into men with fathers who have more money than you can imagine. Why else would she and Dick Grayson turn down everyone who made advances onto them while they were high school. It definitely wasn't the fact that they weren't into them, couldn't be. Nor was it the fact that they just weren't ready for a relationship, isn't everyone ready for one? No, it was just because they were already dating and not telling anyone. That was enough of something to get under her skin.
Dick stood up with a sigh, "Okay, well."
Looking from her hands back to him, Augustine nodded, "I'm going to go and give Roy a call."
Augustine watched Dick's face fall a bit, an unknown (at least to her, she's sure Dick knew exactly what he was feeling but she was trying to keep herself from reading his mind) emotion running through his eyes. He nodded a little, "Okay."
Augustine gave a tight-lipped smile in response, her left hands fingers stuffed tightly into the small pocket at the front of her jeans. Rocking back and forth on her heels, "Right, we'll, uh, we'll talk some more later."
Dick glanced at the door to the bedroom he knew she was going to settle into for the phone call, "How long do you think it'll take?"
Augustine shrugged, "Depends on how busy his day at work is right now."
"You haven't told him about this situation, have you?"
"I'm sure he already knows about a good chunk of it," Augustine stated in a nonchalant manner. "But, no, I haven't said anything to him about it. Though, if there are people coming after her like you say there are, he probably should be told about it. This is his area of expertise, fixing problems related to anything that could be catastrophic or dealing with powers. Might be the time to consider."
"I damn sure do not need ARGUS telling me what to do," Dick snapped. "I know how to protect people from things like this and I know the right people to call for the things I'm not skilled with. Besides, you're here and Roy would never let you stay here in danger."
"I think you're overestimating Roy's level of worry for my safety," Augustine laughed. "Sure, he worries about it but not even for me, at least not completely. I think he worries more about the people who would have tried to attack me over me getting hurt."
Dick let out a breath, his face contorting as if he agreed with Roy's train of thought, "I mean."
"Don't get me wrong, I can hold my own and whoever thinks they can attack me is surely mistaken. But," Augustine shrugged, she wasn't quite sure what she was going to say.
"Sometimes you'd like for him to worry about your safety?" Dick guided her, making Augustine nod in agreement. A light laugh fell from his lips, "I'm sure he does, he just doesn't like to worry you with it. Just like your mother has always worried about you, same with Bruce, and same with me. You've always been too much of a hard head to let us worry over you. Roy's just saving himself an argument with the master of arguments."
"Is that my title now?"
"Oh yeah," Dick nodded, a smile forming on his lips for what felt like the first time in forever. "Maybe if you let it, we'll even tack on doctor in there somewhere."
"I'll let you sit on that while I'm on the phone with Roy."
"You'll come out to the best title you can think of, promise."
Augustine hummed, raising her brows in a mocking gesture, "I bet."
Dick watched her walk back into the bedroom, leaving the door ajar as she called Roy. His eyes stayed trained on her as she brought the phone up to her ear, watching as he reactions changed when he answered. A smile had overtaken her lips — but when he looked hard enough, it hadn't reached her eyes in the same way it always did. Augustine could be stoic and he would know what she was feeling, she had always been the one to show it in her eyes in the same way she could read him just through the tug of his lips — the sight alone of the smile without her eyes lighting up made alarm bells ring. Maybe it was just an off day, maybe she was just missing him. But it didn't seem like the look of someone who would marry the man if he got down on one knee right then. Not someone who would give an answer right away, not the one she had suggested at least. Dick watched with a frown as she spoke softly, the frown lifting when her voice got louder and had a higher tone, indicating Roy wasn't the only one on the phone. He looked away, giving her the privacy she deserved when on the phone with her boyfriend. She has always given him that when they were friends and he was in a relationship. Some part of him felt like that was different, that was then and this was now. He didn't know her the same way, but he knew enough.
He knew enough that it was a dangerous game watching her speak to another man, he knew that he needed to get out the apartment before too much longer. And that was exactly what he did. Phone in hand, Alfred's number dialed up, Dick left the apartment in near silence. It was only by the time that Augustine had hung up the phone, that seedling of doubt having only grown in the slightest bit, expecting to see Dick that she noticed he was gone. While it wasn't something that should have surprised her, it also shouldn't have left her with a frown sitting on her lips. Nor should it have tugged at her heartstrings — Augustine Finley thought she had been over this before with herself.
She was done letting Dick Grayson play a part in her emotions, he couldn't have control over them anymore. Of course, those kinds of resolutions never work.
AUTHORS NOTE
7.6k words of AugustDick can you believe it? (actually you can bc you just read it so ... yuh).
let me know your thoughts! I know this chapter
was packed full of some hair gripping moments
(Hello miss purple hair) and then not to mention
the catching up of old friends who are pretending nothing happened to preserve their sanity. also two friends who clearly have something that they're keeping from each other.
anyways! that's all I have for you guys today, idk what's coming next, probably something canon compliant and actually going along with the plot of the show (weird I know) (August's whole storyline doesn't even always fit into the shows storyline so a lot of act one is show happening in background and august having breakdowns as she's going through life).
also peep the new sign off!