Milk And Cardamom | S. Brown ✔

[36]

After breakfast, Luke accompanied Steph to the bus stop from where she took the bus to the district in which Wayne Manor was located. He had locked the annexe properly on his way out because George and Camille hadn't yet come back, but when he returned, he spotted a white envelope in the mailbox.

He took it out and was surprised to see it addressed to him. Placing the enveloped in his pocket, he unlocked the door and went in first, checking that everything was just as he had left it. Then sitting down on the couch in the living room, he tore open the envelope.

The contents that poured out of the package terrified him out of his wits. It contained pictures, a lot of them and all containing Luke and Steph together. There were pictures from their trip to Aparo park as well as the other places they had visited in Gotham, each picture focusing just on Luke and Steph.

Then there were pictures from their trip yesterday and he felt a strangely sick feeling settling at the pit of his stomach. He had felt someone was spying on them yesterday and he hadn't been wrong.

But as he emptied it all out, he got even more concerned because next came pictures taken from right outside the annexe he was in. Pictures showing him and Steph in that spare room together.

His heartbeat had quickened in alarm and he reached the last picture which was a clear shot of Stephanie alone and on the back of it was an unfamiliar handwriting.

Meet me at Ace Chemicals tonight, 8 pm sharp or else your lovely muse will have to pay for it. And come alone. If anyone else finds out, you will be responsible for the consequences.

He held his head in his hands, feeling as if he would explode from all the worry that was brimming up inside him. He knew who would have sent that envelope and he knew exactly what the man wanted.

The fact that Steph was being dragged into a mess he was responsible for just because he had started getting closer to her felt twice awful.

The doorbell rang and he almost jumped out of his skin, quickly piling all of the pictures in that envelope and hid it away in the shelf. His heartbeat was racing as he went to answer the door but much to his relief, George and Camille had come back.

"Luke, darling, we had no idea it would take so long due to the conferences and then also the storm struck," Camille had not noticed that he was white as a sheet as she casually talked to him.

But George took in the fact and he had halted, eyes studying his son's features closely, "Luke, is everything alright?"

"I... I want to talk to you," he replied but then the words flashed in his head again, making him seal his mouth shut. If anyone else finds out, you know the consequences.

George waited for him to resume but then realized that he was probably hesitating due to Camille so he handled the situation, "sure. I have a few calls to make but join me in the study, will you?"

He had a guess that the boy wanted to tell him something about Deathstroke and he hoped from the depths of his heart that guess would not turn out correct. Dealing with Slade was a topic he knew he would have to face eventually but right then was too soon.

"Yeah, okay," he nodded but his thoughts were flickering towards the fact that Steph could be at risk so he excused himself, "I have a call to make too. I will come to the study after that."

"Okay."

He trudged the stairs up to his room but as he passed the door of the spare room, he felt another thought settle in and opened the door immediately. He opened the window looking out for how the spy could have snapped pictures of them from there.

He knew he would have to examine it clearly so he decided to check up on Steph first then focus on the window.

Steph picked up after a few rings, "Luke, hey, how are you?"

"Have you reached home?"

"Yes, just about now," she must have noticed the concern in his tone as she asked, "all good?"

"Yeah, I thought of checking up on you," he replied, "after all I should have dropped you back, it was my responsibility I brought you here so..."

"It doesn't matter," she assured him, "I've reached home and I'm okay. Nothing to worry about."

"Right," he let out a breath of relief, "take care."

"You too," and shortly after she had hung up.

He placed his phone on the bed then came back to the window, looking down as he judged the height. There was no way anyone could reach up until or unless that person knew how to scale up buildings stealthily.

Opening the window wider, he bent down as he carefully climbed out on to the sill, judging if there were any cameras fixed instead but found none.

"Luke, what are you doing?"

He almost stumbled but looked down to see Camille in the garden, looking at him in shock.

"It's okay, Cami, I'm just fixing the frame," he called back, steadying himself.

"Luke, please, I'm scared you'll fall off."

He sighed, climbing back inside, "okay now?"

"Yeah. And George's waiting for you."

He nodded, closing the window, the gears in his head turning. There were no fixed cameras, it was difficult to snap pictures in the middle of a storm. Nothing was making sense anymore.

He couldn't fathom how an average human could complete such a feat.

Before going to George's study, he carefully hid the envelope of pictures under the mattress first. He knew he was in a mess and there seemed no way out.

He would have to go to ACE Chemicals on his own and if he told that to George, Steph could be at risk. In frustration, he slammed his foot on the door frame, unable to think of what to tell George instead of the truth.

All he could think of was that he would have to meet Deathstroke that night and there was no knowing how worse things were going to get for him.

***