Sell you a Bridge chapter 41

Gotham Park July 14th 2010 7:00 AM EDT

I  had skipped school again today. Not that anyone was aware, I'd hacked  into their servers and changed my attendance records along with  switching a few missed assignments to A's. It wasn't like I needed the  lessons, I'd already memorized the books anyway. I glanced around the  park at the grass and trees and couldn't help but remember my picnic  here with Annabel. My phone rang, I reached down and pulled it out  glancing at the caller ID before sending it to voicemail. I'd been  dodging Zee's messages and screening her calls the last few days. I  wasn't even sure why. I just didn't feel like talking.

We'd  headed home from Blood's place after our meeting and Jim had gone out  on his own to try to track down alternate sources of Ladon's venom while  he waited to hear back from Circe. Apparently the goddess (because she  was a literal fucking diety) was somewhat elusive most of the time, so  he'd put word out to his sources that he wanted to get in touch. In the  meantime he was working with Kitrina on some of the same things he'd  trained us in, and Reggie and Artemis were both in school today.

I  came to this park to think, it had been only ten days since my picnic  here with Annabel but it felt like an eternity. I was wearing a hoodie  and had used my ninja skills to evade any detection leaving the tower so  no one would be able to find me, but I'd mainly come here to decide  what my next move should be. I'd decided to pick my next power. I was up  to fifty five points now, which should be enough to get something  decent, but I was having trouble deciding what my next ability should  be.

I'd  considered something flexible first, I had several ritual magic emails.  Most of them were specialized things like defense or sex magic, but  because they were so specific they had a lower cost. The more  comprehensive magic mastery emails had much higher point values so I'd  have to put them on hold until after I got something decent to tide me  over through all this nonsense. Magic seemed like a solid option because  it had so many variations, and with my perfect memory I should be able  to learn to make some amazing rituals.

The  second option was something a bit more direct. Reid Richter's Reflex  Elixir, another snake oil super power drug from the people who promoted  Dr. Destro's Dehumanization Draft. The stuff promised to triple my  reaction time. Combined with aura sight and my sensory abilities it was a  massive game changer. I'd looked into Flash style super speed but the  cost was in the quadruple digits, up there with a serum to make people  Kryptonian in terms of raw cost. Still with my current skill set  enhanced reaction time would be incredibly useful in protecting myself  and my friends and mentor.

The  third and final option was something a bit more...esoteric. A set of  antique tarot cards from a supernatural wholesale site that I'd signed  up for that sent emails about their newest deals. It was basically the  magic equivalent of those sites where people buy cheap knives that have  fancy designs but are basically pot metal. The cards claimed to have  belonged to Aleister Crowley himself and had absorbed some of his  mysterious abilities making them able to predict a completely accurate  future every month on the full moon.

There  were plenty of other emails of course, but those were the ones that  seemed most effective based on my current points. Despite the utility of  actual prophecy it was eleven days until the full moon, and I could  always use that one closer to when it would be useful. Rituals were damn  useful but I was leaning toward the reflex elixir out of all the  possibilities because it built on the skills I already had. I didn't  want to spread myself too thin when I could be compounding my  advantages.

My  martial arts were mostly for assassination with a bit of pressure point  stuff, but with enhanced reflexes even my pressure strikes would be a  force to be reckoned with. At the very least with my perfect balance and  ninja speed I would be able to maneuver around blows from even the  Talon's. Mix in my ability to walk on walls and maneuver myself with  water walking I would be a force to be reckoned with in combat.  Especially when  considering my perfect aim with my shuriken.

I  pulled out my phone and opened up my email app. The new Lexphone Ten  was one of my better purchases, Lexcorp had released a new Seven G  mobile network only a few months ago (rumor said it was based on alien  tech) and it was the fastest internet connection you could find on a  mobile device. I'd heard the WayneNet mobile carrier was more consistent  in terms of connection but I had bought this thing for the regular  email access so that didn't mean too much to me. In point of fact worse  bars might be a benefit to me given what had been going on in my life.

Speaking  of benefiting from worse bars, my phone rang as soon as I pulled up the  email I wanted. Covering the screen with a cute picture of Zee winking  she'd texted me a few weeks ago. I really shouldn't keep putting this  off. I hit the answer button "Yeah." My voice sounded hollow and morose  even to me, and I winced at the somber tone. I knew she would pick up on  it, Zee was very sensitive to other people's moods. It was without a  doubt her most endearing and simultaneously annoying character trait.

Her  response was a bit delayed. "Random?" Her voice sounded...tentative,  soft, and maybe a little hurt. I felt my stomach twist a bit. Great, I  was hurting another friend. Fantastic. "I'm sorry I keep calling but I  just...I had a bad feeling when I couldn't get in touch with you. Are  you ok? I've been really worried. I thought maybe you decided it was too  dangerous for us to talk or something. I'm glad to hear from you." She  sounded so vulnerable when she said that it kind of broke my heart.

It  was a good excuse to cut things off, I should have taken it. She didn't  need to get dragged into the Court's bullshit. But Zee was probably one  of the only people who I didn't need to worry about. The Court were  bastards but they weren't stupid. No way in hell would they willingly  pick a fight with the Justice League. The Court were badasses locally,  but on worldwide scale they were nothing special. Only their secrecy and  their close ties to local politics kept them safe at the moment, but if  they offed the beloved daughter of the League's magic user all bet's  would be off.

I  cleared my throat, trying to get my voice back to normal. "Yeah, sorry  Zee. I lost someone close to me so I haven't really been talking to  anyone. I'd never just bail on you for no reason like that. Sorry to  worry you. How have things been on your end? You guys just got back from  your show in Santa Fe right? I saw video of it online." Zatanna  traveled pretty often with her old man for magic shows so she was home  schooled, but their act was pretty famous so I tried to keep up with the  videos when people posted them.

Unfortunately  my distraction technique failed, she skipped right over the show and  focused on the one thing I really wished she wouldn't "Jesus Rand,  that's terrible I'm so sorry. And I've been bugging you for days and  being a needy bitch when you were dealing with a loss. I don't even know  what to say, is there anything I can do?" I could almost recite a  mental check list by this point. Those were the questions everyone  asked. It was nice to know people cared but I think they were all aware  deep down that there wasn't anything you could do fix something like  that.

I just  smiled softly "No. I'm getting by, for the moment I'd really love to not  think about it. So like I said, I saw your show in Sante Fe. I was  pretty impressed, how did you do the trick with the doors? If I didn't  know better I'd say you used real magic, but I'm well aware of your  stance on sorcery in your stage act." I purposefully put her onto  talking about magic, hoping to just listen to her lecture for a while.  Her voice was pretty and it was nice to get wrapped in her energy when  she got excited.

Zee  was a huge magic nerd, both stage and real, and would go on for hours  about either or both. Once she got started it was tough to get her to  shut up about it. She paused for a bit before she started talking  uncertainly "Uhm. Sure, I can do that. That one with the door is called  The Transported Man. Basically it involves a pair of trap doors and a  spring board under the stage. The hardest part to get down is the  timing. You have to make sure to bounce the ball just right. Too hard  and you overshoot the door, too soft and it doesn't get there." As she  spoke she seemed to gain some confidence and got more into the  discussion.

She  talked like that for a few hours. Going on about her new ideas for  tricks and discussing magical theory with me. Zee loved to bounce ideas  off me for new ward combinations since I'd done such thorough reading on  that subject. We were the same age and with my perfect memory and speed  reading we were at about the same level of expertise in that one  discipline. It felt good, like I was draining a wound I didn't realize I  had. She was such a sunny and engaging person, talking to her was  just...joyful. She was easily my most optimistic friend, and her  curiosity about the most inconsequential things was refreshing.

The  more she talked the more I thought about what might have happened if I  never picked up. Thought about losing her like I lost Annabel. Just the  idea of it was heartbreaking to me. Zee was special to me. I thought  about Annabel and how she'd abused my trust and how much damage she did  to me and I couldn't ever see Zee doing something like that, but then I  hadn't seen it in Annabel either. Finally I came to a decision. "Hey  Zee?" I cut her off mid sentence and she paused to adjust before  responding.

She  sounded a bit soft when she responded, and I realized she hadn't gotten  as lost in the magic talk as I'd thought, she was just trying to help  me take my mind off things. "Yeah Rand?" I guess my voice must have been  severe, because she sounded a bit nervous about what I was going to  say. Which was fair because I was sweating bullets over it, so at least  we were both on the same page here. I took a deep breath to try to  steady myself before I spoke, trying to frame my question in the most  casual way possible.

Despite  all the effort my voice shook a bit "Do you...want to hang out  tomorrow? I'll be wearing my mask to start, if that's cool. But I could  use some time with a friend. I'd love to go to a movie or a walk in the  park or anything that sounds good to you." I swallowed thickly after I  got all that out, having basically spat it all in a single breath. I was  worried the mask thing would offend her, but while I really needed some  non thief company after Annabel's betrayal I couldn't trust someone  with my face so soon.

I would do  extensive checks with my aura vision when we were together, ask a bunch  of probing questions and see how she reacted emotionally and then once I  had a solid basis for trusting her I would reveal my face. Worst case  scenario I could just find some kind of face changing email with my  powers. Her voice sounded as shaky as mine when she answered, sounding a  bit shy. "I'd...I'd really like that. Daddy will be out on League  business tomorrow anyway so I was just going to be home alone. That  sounds like a nice way to spend the day." And without saying another  word she hung up. Despite everything that had happened recently I had to  say, it felt damn good to smile.