Murder Family Values

Dissociation

The tension in the air was so thick that even the gods themselves would have trouble cutting it as everyone waited for Hannibal to join them. The spot at the head of the table was empty, for it was where the eldest demigod would be sitting. Will Graham and Ashley Al'Ghul sat side by side with matching steely glares.

The two detectives, in Abigail's opinion, were beginning to look more and more like a father-daughter pair every day. The closer you looked, the more the similarities seemed to pop. The same deadly expressions, the same snarky attitudes, similar eye, hair, and skin color depending on the lighting, seeing as the colors of most of Ashley's features almost seemed to have a mind of their own.

Abigail met Ashley's eyes for a second before she glanced to the side. "The weather's been nice."

Ashley's eyes seemed to narrow further. She refused to talk to the traitor who had brought along the redheaded reporter of all people. "I should think not. Too hot, in my opinion." As she spoke, Will glanced at her, but before he could say anything, the redhead spoke up.

Freddie Lounds tossed her an equally forced smile. "You would say that, wouldn't you? Where did you say you from again?"

"Gotham, you uneducated..."

Ashley's insult was cut short as Hannibal reentered the room. "I feel terrible Miss Lounds. Never entered my head that you might be a vegetarian. A lapse on my behalf."

Ashley had gone terribly still at the cannibal's presence as she tried to judge whether or not he had been in earshot when she had said it.

Her eyes flickered to the meat on her plate. She couldn't remember what Hannibal claimed it was, but she knew for a fact that it was human flesh. Gingerly she picked up her fork and noted his amusement as she started to cut it.

She had never been more grateful about the fact that she was lying about her age as Will Graham and Freddie Lounds bickered back and forth. She ignored the fact that there most likely was traces of blood in the red wine as she took a sip. Drink to forget, as the mortals always kindly put it.

The glass was finished before she had even put a dent in her salad. Curse my high alcohol tolerance, Ashley thought to herself after she was finally dragged back into the conversation.

"You have to understand our concern. You don't exactly have the best track record when it comes to the truth, Freddie." In fact, I'm not sure if it's physically possible for you to do so.

The redhead tilted her head slightly. "And you do? Tell me, why exactly is there no trace of you before recently?"

Ashley smiled. "My family doesn't believe in social media. It goes against our religious beliefs. You know how Middle Easterns are, don't you?"

That had shut the taboo reporter up quite nicely. As a white person in America, Freddie couldn't disagree or argue that fact without appearing racist. Ha! Got you now.

Ashley was rather proud of how quickly she shut down that conversation and was practically beaming the rest of the dinner from her spot by Will Graham's side, and she didn't utter another word.

"Do you need a ride back to the University?"

Ashley's eyes glanced from the familiar form of Zoe's constellation to the form of her professor. Her eyes seemed to twinkle mischievously under the night sky. "Not tonight, no. Goodnight."

Will nodded slightly in confusion. He hadn't seen how she arrived, but there was only one other vehicle besides Hannibal's in the driveway, and he knew for a fact that it wasn't hers. "Night."