Sell you a Bridge chapter 286

June 14th 2016 The Street of Gods 8:00 AM EDT

True  to his word, Avery had breakfast waiting when we woke up. Some kind of  purple oatmeal type stuff called grengin that I'd never heard of, but  which kind of tasted like blueberries and cream despite having no  sweetener added to it according to our host. It was good stuff, and I'd  even managed a few hours of real sleep after perfecting my domain. My  new godly form required less of the stuff from what I could tell, and I  was feeling like I could take on the world...for about two minutes,  until I remembered where we were actually going.

Eddie was  the only one talking at breakfast, though not much, just enough to  engage Sindella in conversation. For her part, my future mother-in-law  seemed almost as scared of what was to come as I was, which only made me  think better of her. The punk god of the straight razor was as relaxed  and spaced out as ever, as well as somehow not being coated in splatters  of blood from the absolute butchery of Parademons the night before. I  let them all do their thing, figuring they would have to focus up soon  enough and they should enjoy breakfast where they could, only to feel  someone shake my shoulder.

I turned to regard the hand,  following it back to see Wally, staring at me curiously. "Hey man, you  doing alright?" Asked the redhead. " You seem out of it, not that I can  blame you, and something about you is...different. Not bad different,  mind you, just different. You get some new ability?" He raised an  eyebrow in interest, and as he did I noted that I could kind of feel a  different vibe from Wally too. I suspected it had to do with the fruit  he ate and the method through which he acquired the speed force. Between  the divine fruit and the divine lightning Artemis had dumped into him  to start it, not to mention the trip to the Sphere of the Gods, I wasn't  shocked that the guy had some divinity I could pick up.

"Something  like that." Was the only response I gave to the question. Aside from  the fact that explaining any of the changes to me would be difficult, I  didn't know Dagon from Adam. Talking about the kinds of things I'd  experienced where anyone could hear was dicey at best. At the very least  we could have a bit of privacy, I gestured to Wally and we stepped away  from the table to talk. I wouldn't mention my improvements though.  Better to let the whole deal be a surprise for Neron, who it would  hopefully help us stop. I silently cursed Darkseid. We could have had  Gojo for backup in this fight, and my stepdad had proven himself  shockingly powerful.

In the end though, it didn't  matter. Kit was still missing, but the closer I came to the temple, the  more sure I was that she would be there waiting. She might not be there  willingly, but Neron wanted us around for some reason. He was just smart  enough to make us come to him as opposed to hiring a bunch of bounty  hunters like Darkseid. Wally gave me a searching look, clearly waiting  for me to continue talking, but when I didn't he shrugged. "Whatever,  man. I just wanted to check in. She wouldn't ask directly, but Arty has  been really worried about you. She said things were bad with you and  your cousin, and that you blamed yourself?"

His tone was  concerned, but not overbearing, happy to listen without actually prying.  I was positive he'd practiced it more than a few times. That thought  brought a chuckle to my lips. "You could say that." I said at last. "Kit  grew up with my dad as her guardian. Her father was the Holliday  killer. My dad wasn't in my life for most of my childhood because he  wanted to keep me out of the family business, but Kit grew up hearing  him talk about me. Gave her something of a complex about me."

I  thought back to our conversation that night in the clock tower. "I had  just been hurt pretty bad by my ex. She turned on me in a bad way, and I  was having trouble trusting anyone new. Artemis I'd known for years,  Zee was...Zee, and Reggie and I had been through a lot, but Kit was a  complete stranger to me. She told me how she was feeling and I pushed  her away, shoved her off on Artemis and Zee expecting them to fix it."  My voice was heavy with guilt as I told him the story, though not as  much pain as might have been there before. I'd certainly repeated my  failings to myself enough times to be used to hearing about it.

He  winced. "I heard about your ex. That would have screwed with anyone.  Artemis feels pretty guilty about what went down too. She feels like she  should have been able to help her somehow. She saw a lot of herself in  Kit, what with their dads and all. It wasn't exactly the same, but it  was similar enough that not being able to do anything reminded her more  than a bit of what happened with Jade."

"Which is also my  fault." I said firmly. "I was weak and kind of a coward. Kit needed me,  not Artemis. We were family, and I failed her. I wasn't even upset when  she turned on us. I really should have seen it coming. The fact that she  helped the League and that she trusted me enough to reach out for help  is more I deserve. Enough Falcones have let her down, and I refuse to  keep being one of the many." I blew out a breath. "Gods, just  remembering myself back then makes me cringe. I was pretty much  drowning, it's a miracle I even survived."

That got a  sharp bark of laughter from Wally. At my questioning eyebrow he just  grinned. "Sorry. It's just that chronologically that was a year ago for  you. The crazy part is that I get it. In any other kind of life that  would sound ridiculous, but when you live in a world like ours, a year  is so damn long it can be hard to contemplate." He clapped me on the  shoulder. "If it helps I like you better now. You were kind of smarmy  when we first met. Not bad enough to make me hate you like Nightwing  does, but still."

I rolled my eyes and punched him in the  shoulder gently. "I'm sorry, aren't you supposed to be making me feel  better. You fucking suck at pep talks. Should have let Zee do it. She's  great at being peppy. Or Drea, she's great at motivation." My eyes  glazed over as I let a stupid grin slip onto my face. "Maybe I can get  them cheerleading uniforms. I bet they would totally wear them for me."

We  both laughed at that, even if I hadn't been entirely joking. But it  came to an end too soon. I decided to ask the question I'd been avoiding  bringing up with him directly. Fair was fair."How about you. This has  all been a mess, but how are you handling the Nightside? It isn't  exactly a happy place for heroes to spend time. People suffer here, even  if they try to keep it out of sight mostly. I know how much it was  bothering you, but since the Arcadia Project you seem better. Come to  terms with some thing?"

Wally leaned back against the  wall, head thunking back into the rock in a way that made me wince  slightly. "Somewhat." He said slowly. "I have even more respect for the  League than I did, since they have to put up with this sort of thing all  the time. Seeing so much suffering and knowing they can help, but that  their very purpose inhibits it? That's rough. That UN charter makes  things worse in a lot of ways. I realized that it was hypocritical to  agonize over something even as I refused to change it. I either had to  admit that it was the right path or throw out everything I'd been  taught."

I snorted at that. "Shit or get off the pot huh?  That's fair. I guess I can figure out what you chose. I can't really  comment on how valid a choice that was, not my place, but I appreciate  how hard it must have been to make it." I clapped him on the shoulder  warmly. "I'm glad Artemis met you Wally. You're a good guy. I think  things would have turned out much different if we hadn't had you around.  She deserves someone who puts her first like you do after all the  bullshit she's gone through with her dad and sister."

That  got me a genuine smile, but it also ended the conversation. Neither of  us were comfortable enough with the other to get into any really deep  emotional stuff, and that had been damn close. With my piece said, I  turned to the tried and true tactic of all men who accidentally get too  personal when talking to a buddy, I changed the subject. "Anyway. I  think its about time for us to head out. We still have to get to the  temple and actually figure out what the point of all this has been. I  mean, it's almost definitely a trap of some kind, but I'm still not sure  WHY."

London was a long way from  home. The people involved here weren't ones who would normally be in my  social circle, I hadn't even heard of the Nightside until Kit got in  touch. Neron might be interested in a half-devil, but somehow I didn't  think that was the reason for this. I'd had the feeling that something  more was going on here for a while. Someone was involved with all this  that I wasn't seeing, someone who knew me somehow. My powers were a well  kept secret, but they were basically the only thing that could interest  someone at this level. None of the other things I'd done had been  enough to catch this kind of attention.

From  what I'd been told even stopping the invasion wasn't a huge deal to  anyone but Darkseid. If it had been a real threat the Department of the  Uncanny or the Droods would have stepped in. In the end though, the only  way to find out was to actually show up and face the threat. I'd  prepared plenty of layers of deception for this next part. My new  divinity, my domain, the voodon't dolls. All designed to provide my  people and I with security the enemy didn't see coming.

I  would spring the trap like they were expecting, but these bastards  wouldn't be catching the prey they thought was on the way. It didn't  matter how good your bait was if you couldn't contain the target once it  retrieved the lure. Wally and I headed back to the table to check in  with everyone and get ready to leave. John and Eddie, our resident  guides, were both well prepared to depart, and everyone except Suzie,  who had gotten seconds, was done with breakfast. So we wasted no time in  leaving once she was done.

As  we headed back out into the Street of Gods I mentally prepared myself  for the coming battle. I had no clue what to expect, how to prepare more  than I had, or if my cousin was even still alive. The longer this went  on the more sure I was that we weren't going to beat them there. I had  to believe she was though. Neron had gone to so much trouble to arrange  all this. Killing the hostages would be sloppy. There were too many ways  to find out someone was dead and ruin the trap. No, Kit was alive,  probably being held captive at the temple. It was time to go save my  cousin and put this whole thing to rest. I was more than ready to end  this little vacation and go home.