People always said I was cursed.
Gwen Stallone is a Realm Walker with a lot of family drama and a mysterious connection to Jason Todd. They share a terrible secret, but one that will draw them together.
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Settling into the manor took longer than I would've liked.
I unwound the wrappings on my hands and headed for the showers, finished for the day. I was sore and hurting in places I didn't even know I had, but I had rerun through the training course again even though I knew Bruce had switched up the difficulty mode past hard.
I helped Alfred make dinner - a mean lasagna, although we didn't exactly make the sauce from scratch, we used Dolmo. The problems started at the dinner table. Bruce sat at the head of the table and cuts into his serving without a word. Jason wasn't around so I stuck close to Tim, my only friend. He was as stiff as a board and looked like he was about to pass out. I want to tell Bruce: Look at the poor thing, he's got anxiety, but it's not something I should say for Tim, and it wasn't like I could talk about anxiety. Damian on the other hand was staring daggers at him from across the table.
"I think I did pretty good in training today," I said, breaking the silence.
"Not bad," agreed Bruce. "For a corpse."
"But I lasted longer this time."
"Dead is dead."
"You don't need to tell me that," I muttered.
Bruce leaned forward, blue eyes watching me intensely. "In the field, you need to maintain control. Whatever the situation. Hostages, bombs about to go off."
That wasn't exactly the deal. When I approached Bruce about training, we'd both agreed it was better for me not to be an active combatant. On my part it was a selfish reason - I was scared. I didn't want to be hurt again, not to mention the psychotic clown that was still hunting me.
Bruce on the other hand, want to make sure I could defend myself without resorting to lethal force - I knew for a fact he was more concerned about my Meta ability than he let on.
"I'm just trying focus on school, it's... different."
"You don't know the first thing about the American justice system, do you?" said Bruce, but there was almost humour in his voice.
"I know it's bogus."
"And how did you come to that well-thought-out conclusion?"
I smiled. "Watching you. You don't exactly follow the rules of due process."
"I..." Bruce cut himself off. "What other courses are you taking?"
"How not to fall in love with the rogue's gallery - but that's mandatory, which means it's happened more than once," I said. "And Homeland Security..."
The subjects were more difficult than I imagined. Bruce was paying for my collage, and offered me a job at Wayne Enterprises, which I declined. I'd kept my apartment and job at the bar even though I'd moved Lord Montague and most of my stuff to the manor. It was a good place to get information if you knew what to ask the right person and the right questions. I could also get away from the Wayne Family Adventures there and I knew Damian would look after Lord Montague if nothing else.
