MAELSTROM [femPercy x DC]

Chapter 20 - "'We still can be.' : 'No, No we can't"

Percy had been chilling at home, sipping from her cup of blue hot chocolate [using blue food coloring and white chocolate], watching reruns of F.R.I.E.N.D.S on the television.

That was, until she got a phone from Talia about her latest target. It had been a good while since Percy had to kill somebody. She knew Talia reduced the numbers only to the very worst, and this woman was one of them.

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An infamous human trafficker in the Gotham underworld, famous for selling slaves. Victoria Stormsworth. An evil hidden under the most glamorous jewels and evening gowns. She had even come over to the Bat-Manor a couple times [apparently]. How Batman remained unaware of her unsavory activities would always remain a mystery to Percy.

Honestly, Bruce hadn't seemed that bad. He was decent, she could admit. Growing up without parents, living alone for seven years on 'the run' while learning how to fight, and then having to care for others, simply because he couldn't bear to watch them get hurt... yeah, that story sounded a tad bit familiar. Except maybe getting drugged by a superhot assassin and having a hand in donating a sperm for her child, that was unknown territory for Percy. Definitely.

She chuckled, lightly, before swinging through town, hiding amongst the shadows, quietly creeping towards the site which Talia said there'd be an 'exchange'. A transaction. A purchase.

Surely enough, there were people. Since this was a slightly larger scale event, Percy had decided not to greet the soon-to-be-dead perps with her presence, but drop a large grenade powerful enough to take everybody within vicinity out. Of course, by the small, and on the off-chance that madame Victoria did survive, well... she had already sent an anonymous tip off about the ongoings to CatCo. People who would surely take the chance for the scoop of the century. She had sent name, image and address of Victoria, as well as documented proof of transactions and pictures of the human trafficking camp [which she received from Talia].

"So what are you doing?"

If Percy said she noticed the person sneak up on her, she would be lying. Something that Talia would definitely not be proud of, but that was it. She had just been startled.

Thankfully, for her sake and the unknown's, she hadn't accidentally set off the bomb yet. She turned quietly before taking out her katana.

The deal was being processed, and time was running short. She needed to lead this unknown variable away from her target, and blow up Miss 'Philanthropist' before anything else.

"Who are you. Why are you following me?"

"Don't reacognize me, Blue?"

"Wh- Oh! Red! Long time no see!" Percy still held up her Katana, and strained her ears, wary of the unlikely but still possible chance of Batman showing up. She took a leap, moving in the direction away from the clearing. Red Hood followed, unaware of what she was trying to do.

"What are you doing? You look suspicious, Blue... or should I call you Maelstrom? Bats told me all about your meeting with him. Seems like you left an impression!"

"Seems so." she muttered, "Are you going to tell him I'm here? Since you work for him, and everything?"

"I do NOT work for the Batman. I am Red Hood, the anti hero, and I kill people." He paused, in which Percy looked at him, with an eyebrow cocked.

"Congrats, I guess"

"Well.. bad people, but still. Big difference between Bats and me."

"Alright, alright. You said you kill bad people, right? well, so do I. This lady, Victoria Stormsworth, I'm sure you must have heard of her at least once. Well.. she's the owner of a human trafficking business- for labour, and other... stuff. I thought I would give her a little nip in the bud. And in case anything happens, I'd expose the business as well- but that's already done- tip off sent to Ms. Grant. Despite her being in National City... she has one of the biggest followings, and I think it'd be a big deal, considering Ms. Victoria is technically from National City. Either ways, I'm killing her. And you can't stop me. So you might as well watch." Percy said, before pressing a small detonator button, and admiring her work as a large cloud of orange smoke appeared.

"Well damn... I was always into hot ladies who love to take risks and are total badasses."

"Hm. You were. I heard you had a thing with my boss."

"Your boss?"

"Oh yeah, News Flash, I'm from the League. Talia's my boss. Hope this doesn't make things awkward between us. Especially since you have... history, with our family."

Red Hood stumbled back a bit. Percy could only imagine the small expression of shock and distaste forming on his face. Jason Todd's face.

"You know who I am... you know who Batman is! Oh god! And you're a criminal too then!"

Percy snarled, angry at the accusation.

"Do NOT call me a criminal. I'm just like you. I ONLY kill the bad guys. And ONLY the worst. Things at the League isn't how it was with you. Times have changed. Talia changed."

"Oh really? So that's why you used a bomb? What if there were any bystanders or casualties?"

"There weren't. I checked."

"Ha! Look at you, Blue. It's a shame. I really thought that we could have been friends..."

"We still can be." Percy said through grit teeth. She did admit, the assassin business could get lonely from time to time [Shiva and Talia could hardly be called friends], and it wasn't everyday you stumble across a person who's lived through similar shit as you. Sort of.

"No. No, we can't, Blue. You didn't even tell me your name. Not even your code name. You knew that we wouldn't get along. You know it. I'm a person who holds grudges. And with the league? Yeah, I'd say I'm not too friendly with them. You know what they did to me. Made me their killing machine while my memories were unavailable. They didn't let me die. That godforsaken PIT changed me! I need to kill people now. To feel something. To feel alive. You kill because you think its whats right. I kill because it's what I've been trained to do- like an animal- by you guys. I kill because the feeling of watching the life drain out of these psychopaths gives me a purpose. Doesn't that make me a psycho too? How do you think I feel about that? About having to face my father's- some father- glances of disappointment and regret. He's probably wondering how I went so wrong. I know I wonder it."

He was panting heavily. Percy could imagine a feeling of betrayal and mistrust stirring in him. She was aware of all of it. And yet... perhaps it had been too long. Perhaps that visit to CHB had surfaced those feelings of loneliness and longing for a friend. A comrade.

Percy was silent. Red Hood turned to leave, about to jump off the roof and onto the other when he spoke up.

"I won't tell Bats about anything. I hope we never meet again, because I feel like the next time might not be on good terms. After the league, and that pit... I've never been the same. And I don't want to be associated with them ever again. And that includes you. Bye."

Percy sucked in a breath and stared as he moved away.

She could only see the small of his figure, disappearing into the night, the dark sky stained with smoke and dirt, not a single star in the sky.

"I know. I know all about it, that 'godforsaken pit' you speak of. It changed me too."

And then she, too, disappeared away, leaving only the trees and the moon behind, silent witnesses to the argument between the two anti-heroes, the only ones aware of what happened that fateful night.

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A/N Hi. So... There we go. So quite a few people asking me if I planned on getting Red and Blue together. Well... I haven't yet decided, but I thought, even if they did end up together, as an author, I'd want just a bit of history and a bit of... disapproval between the two before anything happens. Not that it is. I feel like I'm just going with the flow at this point, I have a pretty clear idea on the character development for others, like Talia, and Damian, and Bruce and Dick, and the whole plot is related to Percy's mom's disappearance [GASP]. Oh well, that's all revealed for today. Hope you liked the chapter, vote, comment, a penny for your thoughts. Hope you guys have an amazing day, or night, wherever you are.