Profession

No Man's Land

Jon came home right after this, and wanted to hear all about the hearing--what I could tell, anyway. Marital privilege let me tell him more than maybe I should have, but in a way it concerned him too. Carter had hoped that I'd be able to bring Jon and his father and half-brother and cousin in as assets too, which irritated him. He doesn't like to be compelled any more than I do, and he was pissed about the whole situation, but pleased that I'd gotten my apologies, however insincere, and that the people who were involved would suffer consequences.  He called his father to report the attempt to suborn them, absently taking the note from me. I'd been running my fingers over the pleasant texture. He blinked as he read.

"Yeah, Dad, I'll call you back," he said, interrupting his father, and clicked off. "Hey, honey, what are you going to do? This is a surprise." He put his arm around me and steered us to the game room. I could vaguely hear John in the kitchen, preparing dinner.

"Pretty shocking. But I'm in a really good mood, so I think I'll meet with her. At minimum, I can tell her to get her husband off my back. I'm not fond of Grant telling me that I need to make up with my sister."

"I'm not going to tell you what I think you should do; I have no opinion about whether it would be better for you to meet her or not. I barely know her. Just remember that I can be there in seconds if you need somebody to keep you from committing battery, honey." 

"I haven't smacked anybody around for a long time," I said, pretending to be affronted. We talked more about the trial; I'd had a sick feeling from my incarceration and the scene afterward, and this resolution helped me out. I mentioned that Gloriana had stopped by to offer moral support and what she'd said about the other outcomes, and Jon was pleased on my behalf, but still not happy about it At All. 

"Well, Dad, Diana, Bruce, Flash, and the Martian sent down official word from the Watchtower that requests for help from the League will have to go through official channels along with a formal summary of why they need our help, no more super-to-super requests from Captain Britain. Then it was time for dinner, and afterward, when Jon left to do some additional work, took my response to Derinoe to the post office. Arch and Brianna had gone to the Roman Republic for their honeymoon and he'd brought me back a Murano glass dip pen, which was a lot of fun to use. I had to slow down my writing to use it, making my words a lot easier to read, and there was a whole host of accessories, like blotting paper, and I'd gotten into sealing wax too. I'd had a seal made custom of my professional watermark, but for this I used the buttercup one from my small collection with my favorite purple wax.

Two days later, we'd agreed to meet at the Automat nearest the Wayne Enterprises flagship skyscraper. All the Automats I'd been to were nice, but this one was the best; it had a more sophisticated menu and the tables were farther apart. We agreed to meet after lunch rush; unlike other Automats, this one was entirely automated out front in the customer area, so barring other customers around us, we'd have really good privacy for a public area. I wouldn't meet her in private.

I left the pups at home for this conversation; they weren't upset about that at all, not having the desire to see Derinoe again. I arrived a little early and with a hearty appetite. My choices were a really nice mixed vegetable salad and a steak and onion sandwich on grilled multigrain bread. Melted cheese kept everything together, and there was a steak sauce slathered on. Crucially, though the best thing about the Automats were that the plates, bowls, cups, and utensils were all compostable or recyclable, so if I didn't want to be there, I could just seal the container and be off with leftovers. The downside was that they tended to leak sauces, dressings, and soups after a day, but that was never really a problem for me. I had a bag in my purse just in case I needed to load up. I sipped an orange and ginger soda while I waited. The Automat had virtually emptied out; there were only three other customers, and they were at the far side of the room.