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Ghost Helpline part 17 - Aftermath
Violet spends the next week stuck inside. It wasn’t bad. Dad washed, clothed and feed her teleportation sickness away. She sleeps in his bed and he sends her to sleep with fairytales. Violet doesn’t know what she’s supposed to learn from these stories, it’s nice tho.
Violet doesn’t remember being a baby, maybe she never was one? This softness with her new dad leaves her wanting. Violet would like to beige that if she ever was a baby that she had been held like this - as if she was something precious.
Funny enough her bed rest has her brothers divided. Violet lies about and blames it all on a summoning gone wrong. Brad doesn’t correct her.
It leaves half of her brothers to tiptoe around her as if she’s going to go feral at any moment. The other half yell, they’re angry. Konstelacio isn’t sure which she hates more.
Brad shuts himself away from everyone except Chad and Ziyad.
Billy hugs her and tells her everything about his mission. Almost everything he dances around something. Something important, he calls Batman a dick twice. It makes her feel better about lying.
Klarion gives her an amulet and drags Charles over to tell her about their night out.
Dandy … Dandy doesn’t take it well.
“SOMEONE should have been with her!”
“Brad SHOULD have called me!”
“We should be HOME! Not here with all these these … !”
“You know how I feel about humans.”
Every days another fight.
Konstelacio sneaks out the window.
—- —- —-
It’s been a week since the commotion on the Watch Tower. Six days since they started developing an injectable cure for Vampires Fog. Five days since his talk with Tim. Four days since his kids have begun to mercilessly tease him over more frequent phone use. Three days since he read Nightwings report on the pink vampire. Two days since Constantine had contacted him with an update. They had some more info. One day since he called Clark asking him to schedule a JL meeting.
Six hours thirty two minutes and 54 seconds since Vlad last texted him.
Bruce debated sending him another cat meme to hurry up the process.
He knew he shouldn’t be worried, apparently his only daughter had gotten the flu. And much like Tim, when they got sick they got really sick.
Bruce sent him- her- them! Bruce sent them flowers. Hopefully she would get better soon. It was painfully obvious that Vlad loved his children and her getting sick had him stressing out.
Bruce debated inviting the Masters family over for dinner.
The kids would bully him relentlessly.
Alfred would love it.
—- —— ——
The entire week has been strange to Damian. For some reason his father has been texting the head of their new neighbors relentlessly, much to his sibling’s amusement. Damian doesn’t understand why father and him suddenly “need” friends. The whole act was a waste of time, Jon was enough friendship he needed anyway.
Damian stalked into the backyards tree line. Today was good day to paint damian thought as he set up his easel. Just a sunny quiet day with no distractions.
Wwhhhooossshhhh!
That, that was probably just some animal on the property. It wasn’t uncommon to see bunnies or cats skittering around the areas of estate that still resembled a forest.
Wwwwhhhhoooshhhh!
Damian followed the sound deeper into the tree line.
Wwwhhhossh!
That didn’t sound like an animal anymore. If anything it sounded like it was coming from above…?
Damian turned his head towards the sky.
It was just a girl. How disappointing, Damian had hoped to find a big cat.
She was sitting on a tree branch, swinging her legs like she had no trouble in the world. Tch- she probably doesn’t. No doubt she’s one of his new neighbors.
Wait … hadn’t she been sick recently? What was she doing out here? What was she thinking climbing that high?!
“Oi! Imbecile what are you thinking? Get down from there! “
Her head whipped around to face him.
He knew that face, he’d drawn it several times for the league files. It was missing the scar and golden eyes. But he knew that face.
He knew that face… Konstelacio ?
Ghost helpline part 16- Everyone goes home
Billy walked out of the, surprisingly opened at 3 am, art store with bags of painting supply. Ducking into an alley, he transformed. He felt a lot better.
Alright he was ready to head for Gotham, after all his family was waiting for him there.
Now how to get around the Bats, he could probably avoid them if he walked in Bludhaven right?
- “Ow! What the hell! Billy???” The kid had decided to detransform mid air and ended up on top of the small vampire.
“Jack?”
The two looked at each other, “Holly shit are you bleeding! Did I do that?”
“What no of course not! I just got caught up with some bigoted werewolf.” Reds blood was already dry, skin scared as if the encounter had taken place days ago. “Billy what are you even doing here?!”
“Finished that pie at the diner and took a walk around the place. Was just starting to head home”
Translation: I’m done with my mission and patrol of Fawcett and am trying to go home.
“And you didn’t take the short cut home because?”
Billy quizzically raised an eyebrow, seriously what does my sister see in this guy? “ Taking the long way seemed like a safer bet, especially in a town like this.”
Translation: Do you want me to get caught by the Batman ?? Huh? Do you?
“Right, we should get going there’s no telling if that wolf will come back. Need a lift?”
“Can’t we just call Dandy to pick us up?”
Red shook his head, “No can do, he left to go pick up Violet chances are he’s barely coming back into town.”
“What do you mean pick Violet up? Where is she?!?”
“It’s a whole thing, just look I am not comfortable being here right now. Don’t you know wolves travel in packs? Do you want a lift or not!?!?”
“Fine.” Jack hoisted Billy over his shoulder, “This is humiliating.”
“Hardy har har, I may be a weak vampire but even I can care you in this form. Now hold tight.”
They disappeared in a blur of pink.
And Nightwing set down the binoculars, this was going to be a long report.
—-
Dandy was ready to strangle them.
“Hold on hold on we can just check the mirror again!”
“Flipping flapjacks, where the heck is Small-ville?”
Klarion could feel Dandy’s eyes burning into him. Whoops, “Well I at least need to know what state we’re in for me to teleport more accurately… so.”
Danka smiled, “So we ask for directions! We are literally on top of a farm right now - someone has got to be here!”
“Well not like we got any other plans here.”
A short walk, a pie and a conversation later Klarion managed to teleport them to the mansion.
Dandy couldn’t enjoy it for a minute. He stopped dead in his tracks, “Klarion, we forgot the car.”
—- —- —-
Bruce’s neck hurt, did he sleep on the
bat-puter again? No it was too soft. He shifted and opened his eyes… he was on a couch? Oh, OH. That wasn’t suppose to happen, he couldn’t have been that tired. The tv was off, and there was a blanket on top of him.
Vlad was gone and the lights were dimmed.
Great he had made a fool out of himself.
Right, it was time to leave. Right now. He could apologize later but he had to leave.
CRASH!
Bruce jolted into action. The sound came from upstairs.
// He’s so going to get robbed.//
Dick was right, for god sakes the house didn’t even have cameras!
Bruce ran up the stairs.
CRash! ThUd! “Ow damn nmit”
Oh that didn’t sound like a criminal… that sounded like a kid.
Two doors opened, Vlad and a little boy came out of them.
The kid had black hair and blue eyes, “Who the fuck are you?”
“Billy!”
“Whatever old man, next time just let us know before you bring some side piece over.”
Oh good god he was another Jason.
——
Bruce got into his car and went home.
He left felling giddy and guilty, holding Vlad’s number.
Dick knew better to keep secrets from The Batman, so he wasn’t going to lie. He just also wasn’t going to tell him what happened to his face. If Bruce really needed to know what happened tonight he could read the report on it.
—- —- —-
Violet stares at the phone longer than necessary, she’s got one shot at this. Don’t fuck up.
She plucks a number out of her inventory and dials.
Violet has never been close to Bradley, he was quiet and reserved. He insisted that she couldn’t do anything without help, well on the upside if someone thinks you’re useless it’s not like you can disappoint them more than you already do.
“Hey Brad, can you come pick me up… I’m at a pub… yeah again…”
- Brad hung up the phone and abandoned his brothers at the movie theater. His sister had called him, him! Not Dandy or Danka or Klarion! She had called him! And now he he had a little sister to save!
He checked the time on his Lock Screen, a picture of Violet having a stuffed animal tea party, it was his prized possession. His little baby sister was just so adorable and kind. And if anyone in Gotham hurt her there was going to be hell to pay! - literally!
—- —- —-