Shadows and Cards (a Batboys x OC)

Chapter 17

   Grayson

After Jason and Damian had brought Athena back to the Batcave, Tim had practically quarantined Athena when she showed them the vials of Kreeal she had stolen from the lab. After Tim had deemed her clean from his over-the-top cleanse, Bruce had appeared out of the shadows and gave Athena one of the sternest pep talks that Grayson had ever heard. But she didn't seem thrown off by it one bit and had spent almost an hour after madly shifting and training nonstop. The training dummy was in shreds and the simulator was practically drained of battery.

But when he passed her in the halls later on dressed as if she had lived here for ages in a pair of sweats, she still looked vigilant and full of energy. Crackling with it, in fact. Because when he went to stop her to apologize for his actions earlier, he could see the yellow veins in her eyes sparkling with blue lightning. And when he looked closely, her wings were humming with dim blue energy. He even made the mistake of patting her on the shoulder, and almost being thrown against the walls from the shock. Athena rushed to him and healed him, but he made a note not to touch her until she had fully recovered from the Kreeal.

Later on, when returning to his rooms after a while in the tech room, he found Athena and Jason in the movie room. They were watching Game of Thrones, and for once, Athena actually looked at home and was comfortable with people. 

He felt a twinge of guilt rush through his veins from not being the first one to make her feel safe. And of all people, Jason seemed to have achieved that first. He rarely showed his feelings other than rage and sarcastic comments. How on earth did Athena manage to get even an ounce of emotion out of him was a question Grayson didn't want to know.

He left the two and their shred of happiness to retire to his rooms for a needed night of sleep. And when he awoke in the morning, he found a note by his bedside table.

Thanks for leaving me and my moment of comfort in this blasted mansion in peace. You'll find a surprise for you in the armory. -Athena

Grayson stared bleary-eyed at the note, wondering how she knew he was there, and what she had in store for him in the armory. 

He got out of bed and dressed in the least formal attire he could find, all while sifting through last night's patrol reports from Tim. He had found nothing out of the ordinary, other than a few robberies and a fight with Poison Ivy while trying to steal yet another batch of chemicals. Tim also noted that Athena's stunt had surprisingly gone relatively unnoticed by the public, but Avinome was still trying to get the media hooked on their story of a demon girl with wings who stole something that didn't exist and didn't leave any marks. 

Grayson chuckled at that, and made his way to the armory, stopping by the kitchen to grab a pastry from Alfred. All seemed to be going as any normal morning would, but he stopped when he reached the armory to find a weapon he had never seen before.

Sitting on the table in the middle of the room, was a pair of the most beautiful combat batons he had ever seen. Matte black and glowing with blue streaks, they hummed with blue light. 

He set down his tablet to pick up the baton and nearly threw them when they formed around his hand, making a metal glove around his palms and fingers. And when he tossed one of the batons in the air, a magnetic force brought it back to his hand. Grayson marveled at the sleek yet deadly aura it posed and was delighted to find a small button on it. 

He pressed it, and the veins of blue crackled with electricity. He pressed the button again, and the electricity blasted a nearby plant, shattering it into mere dust.

Detaching the gloves from his hands and placing the batons into a compartment that would lead to his suit, Grayson marveled at how powerful Athena could be. If she could make something like that in one or two nights and make it perfect, he wasn't quite sure if he should be scared or utterly ecstatic.

He returned to the tablet of reports of recent robberies, and he had Tim make a file of all of the ones that seemed to link to Rebirth Corp. or Avinome. Surprisingly, there were quite a few sightings of children with animal-like features, some with claws and tails, others with scales or sharp teeth. There were few reports of full-fledged mixes, other than one sighting of a small girl who turned into a wolf and killed ten people before retreating to the outskirts of the city and took a data chip filled with tech designs.

His attention was so fixed on the girl, that he almost ran Athena into a wall while passing her. She shouted in alarm and flew above him to avoid becoming shoved.

"Gah! I'm so sorry Athena, I wasn't paying attention."Grayson started.

Athena landed on the floor and tucked her wings behind her. "It's alright, I guess you were so fixed on your screen that you didn't see me."

Grayson laughed a bit. "Yes. By the way, I want to thank you for the gift you made me. How on Earth did you get the materials for it?"

"It's simple really. I just took the design of your original batons and made some new upgraded ones with a bit of metal from..." Athena stopped. "Actually, I don't know where it came from."

Grayson stared at her for a moment. "I'm sorry but this information isn't going through my head."

Athena smiled a bit. "Yeah, I didn't expect it to." they both laughed until Athena caught a glimpse of his screen.

"Oh, this? A girl was spotted stealing a data chip from Avinome a few weeks ago. Reports say she turned into a wolf and killed ten guards before she left."

Athena stiffened at the wolf part. 

"What, did you just say?"

Grayson looked at her, and her eyes had widened and were glued onto the picture.

Grayson said, "Uh, are you ok? You look like you just saw a ghost."

"Kayia." Athena breathed.

Athena snatched up the tablet and vanished into the shadows of the hallway in the blink of an eye. Grayson stood there for a few moments, stunned. Who is Kayia? And how did Athena know them?