A Sore End (Hard Time Sequel)

Five

 I woke up again but this time I wasn't hugging Damian. I had fallen on my back, my head aimed at the roof of the sewers.

"Are you awake?" Damian's voice asked.

I sit up slowly, wincing at every muscle that participated in the movement. Damian was dressed again and I could tell his clothes weren't as wet as they were before. His arms were crossed and his face was scrunched in a scowl as always.

I rub my head and blink hard.

"You seem chipper." I say dryly as I slowly stand, stretching out my arms.

"I'm not unconscious." He replies, giving me a look that told me he blamed me or this whole thing.

I move my jaw a few times and nod. "Good, I didn't like dragging you around the city very much."

He scowled at my jokes and asked "Which city are we in? These sewers don't look like Gotham's."

I smirk and look around. "Too clean for you huh? Maybe Metropolis."

Damian shook his head. "They use white stone for their sewers. My guess is Central city."

"That'd be nice." I say as I climb the ladder.

"Why?" Damian asked.

"Because Flash." I explained. "And I'm sure your mom wouldn't expect us to take a detour to Central city. I mean, if I were chasing us I would expect us to make a B-line to Gotham."

Damian was quiet as I lifted the sewer lid and looked out. All I saw was white. Glimmering white that hurt my eyes to look at. I look away and squeeze my eyes a few time before looking back out. The snow was powder fresh and clean. So definitely not Gotham. Not a pee stain to be seen.

"Okay, let's go." I say as I push the lid away from me and pull myself out of the stink hole to fresh air.

I reach down and Damian takes my hand. I pull him up quickly and kick the lid back over the hole to cover it.

"This is Central City." Damian says.

"You sure?" I ask.

He raised an eyebrow at me. "Honestly, don't you read at all?" He pointed at a huge billboard that stated 'Central City' next to a big sale going on at Frappy's.

A cold winter wind blew past us and ripped at my face. I glanced at Damian who was already vibrating again but trying to hide it.

""Let's find a store." I say.

"Why?" Damian asked as I started to walk off.

"Because, we stick out in these clothes. In Gotham it would have been easy but here we're likely to get arrested just for looking suspicious." I say. And also because Damian looks way too pale and cold to be out in such thin material.

We find a mall that looked clean and bright with bold colors and swarms of people. Some were dressed up as Superheroes and as we passed by security I just smiled and said "Batman's our favorite superhero!"

He nodded and walked away as we entered a store.

"What's the plan? We don't have any money." Damian whispered.

"We're just gonna borrow some stuff and return it later." I say quickly as I snatch a few things off display shelves. Everyone was too busy with their own Christmas shopping to notice Damian and I slipping into dressing rooms and walking out with completely different clothes. Wearing hoodies and coats with jeans and boots felt significantly better than thin assassin onsies that were damp and cold. I let out a sigh of relief as we walk through the mall, ripping off tags and tossing them in trash bins as we pass.