If Souls Return (Then Tell Them I Say Hi) - Tony Stark's Daughter in Gotham

Chapter 3: Applications & Alienations

It was getting dark, and Amberly knew she needed to get back to the gym soon. She'd found that exploring Gotham was a good way to pass the time when she was careful about corners to avoid. Tony had always been hesitant to let her roam New York without a buddy, remaining cautious after all the danger he'd seen in the world. Amberly could get that. The chance to breathe wasn't all that bad either though.

Amberly had been lucky in that the woman she had pick pocketed, carried a good bit of money on her. There must have been at least four hundred dollars in small bills. She had been budgeting out what she could spend, but when it came to food Amberly had a difficult time holding herself back.

A hotdog cart on the corner was selling two for five dollars, and it was a deal she couldn't pass up. Amberly stopped purchasing two, not regretting it one bit when it tasted like greasy heaven. Ketchup and mustard melted in her mouth. She'd never been so grateful to have something to cure the hunger she felt.

Mid bite, Amberly looked up and saw a large billboard for Wayne Industries. She didn't care much for whatever the sign said, but one thing stood out to her. The face on the billboard was the same as the driver who had almost hit her with his car the other day.

Her stomach dropped as she put two and two together. No wonder the man had been so worried, he probably thought Amberly was going to sue him or something. She would definitely be avoiding him from now on.

Something moved in the shadows behind the billboard. She couldn't make them out but could hear them creaking up on the rooftop. This was exactly why she hadn't wanted to be out after dark.

Amberly was ready to nope out when the figure stilled. They seemed to notice Amberly's eyes on them and scaled down to her.

She backed up, when their feet hit the ground. "Hey, hey I'm not going to hurt you, just wanted to check in. What are you doing out here alone?"

"Walking."

The person frowned. A black mask that covered their eyes dug into their cheeks. They wore a matching black and blue suit with a bird across the chest. Superhero then?

Behind them another person dropped to the ground. This one had a leather jacket and bright red helmet. "Don't scare the kids Dickiebird."

The first guy audibly sighed. "What are you doing here Hood?"

"Let's see." Leather jacket stuck up a hand and started counting off his fingers. "You're in my territory, talking to one of my kids, and I told B I would look into this. What do you think?"

"Yeah well, I promised Oracle first."

Amberly wanted to take their bickering as an opportunity to book it out of there but was stopped. "Oh no you don't. We're going to talk this time." Hood stepped in to block Amberly between the pair.

The one dressed in black and blue crouched down to her level and rested an arm on his knee. "Can I ask what happened to your face?"

She wished people would stop questioning her about that. From what she could make out in the dusty mirrors of the gym, she thought things were healing up pretty nicely. Her arm barely hurt anymore. She could even rotate it in a full circle without wincing.

"Fell."

The one-word responses didn't seem to be satisfying the men. Hood grunted and the one crouching wrinkled his nose.

"That must have hurt," he said slowly.

Amberly shrugged, because well yeah it had but who was she to complain.

"Do you live around here?" he asked, keeping his questions gentle like she was a child. It was the same voice Tony had used with her during the first month she lived with him.