Sell you a Bridge chapter 189

March 5th 2016 Doomhallow Hall 11:00 AM EDT

Stepping  back onto the island after so many months away was...weird. I felt my  connection with the place snap back into reality. I felt the orb that  linked me to the island reestablish connection to the island and I was  able to conjure the thing into my hand again. The familiar weight of the  glowing purple sphere was just wonderful. I sighed with relief as I saw  the base screen come up, grinning at the interface I hadn't see in  years.

I resisted the urge to  play with the screen with the twenty thousand I currently had on me,  dismissing the orb as I looked around for my mentor. I saw Jim stroll  into the room and swept forward as soon as I spotted him, yanking him up  into a tight hug. I laughed as I scooped him up. "Jim! It's so good to  see you. Thanks for looking out for my mom as best you could while I was  gone. She told me you sent money." Even with my perfect memory I didn't  focus on everything all the time, and I'd almost lost track of the fact  that I asked him to do that.

He  chuckled hoarsely as I set him down. "It's good to see you Morgan,  truly." His head turned slightly." And you as well Artemis. Please, come  in." He froze. "I suppose inviting you into your own home is a bit  absurd isn't it. You made this place." I smirked at him, following him  into the map room. The black marble of the hallways with its white veins  was the same as ever, with the harsh light of the white flames in the  black wall sconces casting my mentor in eerie relief. Which to be fair  made sense, since he was lighterally a ghost.

We  sat down at the table in the map room and Claire came bursting in.  "Morgan!" She stepped up to give me a tight hug. "It's so good to see  you dear, and I see you brought my layabout son with you." She raised an  eyebrow at Reggie, who looked sheepish, probably from not visiting. She  then turned to the blonde who had come in with Reggie, favoring her  with a bright smile. "Elizabeth! It's so wonderful to see you!" She let  go of me, pulling Bette into a hug next, and ignoring Reggie who was now  fuming at being left out of the proceedings.

Chuckling  at my friend's antics as Artemis got a hug from Claire, I turned to my  mentor again with a smile. "So boss. Wanted to check in. I've heard  things have been tough for you since we got sucked into that portal." My  smile dropped. "I...I'm sorry Jim. For leaving you behind like that  without considering what it would mean for you. For all of you. I  just...I saw them go in and I reacted. I was stupid and impulsive, and  while I can't say I'd do things differently if I could do it again, I  feel bad that things worked out how they did."

Jim's  monocle was trained dead on at my face, and after a minute, he started  chuckling, then laughing, then broke down into cackles. It took him  minutes to stop laughing. "Morgan, my poor, sweet, stupid apprentice. I  never blamed you for that. Never blamed you for anything. I was supposed  to protect you. I saw your growth and how easily you handled yourself  against all threats and I made the foolish mistake of assuming you were a  peer with no more to learn. I treated you like a partner instead of a  mentor, and it was far too soon for that. I failed you."

I  flinched back at the self loathing in his voice. "Whoa there, hold the  fucking phone. You did NOT fail me. You taught me the skills and  techniques that I used to acquire all that power. Your training has  saved my life more than once. You think you could be expected to know  how to react to the weirdness that is my ability? A unique ability even I  can barely keep up with? That's...stupid. You're being stupid. Get over  yourself and pull your head out of your spectral ass."

Claire  dissolved into giggles. The monocle turned and she shot back a  challenging smirk. "Sorry Jimmy, but the kid has a point. I've told you  for years this pity party was pointless. But with the League targeting  you whenever possible and all the parents blaming you it was natural you  would be upset. Now they're back though, and it's time to stop sulking  and be a grown up ghost."

Now  it was my turn to burst out laughing. I grinned at her. "You really  call him on his shit huh? I approve. I'm glad he had someone like you to  look after him. One downside to his insufferably big head is that he  thinks he can do anything. I imagine being proven wrong on that front  didn't help his self esteem." I looked around. "So, with Jim's ass clear  of head shaped obstructions why don't you fill me on on all the locals.  Where were the people living here?" It hadn't just been Claire and  Callie here, we'd had other tenants too.

Claire  smiled widely. "Arthur still lives here. He likes to work as a  groundskeeper. His daughter, Stephanie, has actually been apprenticing  under Jimmy." Jim cleared his throat, and she rolled her eyes. "Sorry,  Jimmy doesn't take apprentices anymore, he's been 'showing her a few  tricks'." She made air quotes with her fingers as she spoke. Clearly  having had this argument more than once. "Other than the two of them,  it's just us." Her smile wilted slightly. "Since Paula left."

Jim  reached out to take her hand. "It's alright love. I'm sure with Artemis  home she'll be back any day now. She was never angry at you anyway. She  was always angry at me." He turned to us. "Claire and Paula had become  good friends in the time they spent on the island. They've kept in  touch, but Paula's refusal to come back has been something of a sore  spot for her for some time." Artemis for her part remained silent,  clearly still overwhelmed by all of this.

I  offered them a smile, curious how Jim got his lovers to get along so  well. I'd been lucky with Dreamer and Zee, but the thought of trying to  introduce anyone else to that dynamic was terrifying, and I was pretty  sure Jim had like eight girlfriends at one point, all aware of each  other. That wasn't my business though, so I changed the topic to  something I'd been much more worried about. "So. She mentioned the  League was giving you trouble?"

His  shoulder slumped. "Not exactly. It's more that they've stopped  dismissing me as a threat. Outside of preplanned thefts I mainly spend  my time on the island these days. When I go out too often I tend to  catch attention. The Flash was mainly too kind to outright target me,  but Batman took the disappearance of Kid Flash rather personally. He's  simple enough to avoid, but he's extremely irritating to have looking  over your shoulder after the fact. His reputation as the world's  greatest detective is not unearned."

I  winced at that. "Well Kid Flash is contacting his family and the League  along with Zatanna. She was hoping to find out more about what happened  with her father. Do you know anything about that?" I was guessing if  Batman had started shit, Giovanni hadn't left my mentor to his own  devices. Not with their existing rivalry. I'd have been shocked if he  didn't blame Jim for Zee vanishing.

There  was genuine sadness and regret in his voice when he answered.  "Giovanni...he couldn't take it anymore. Losing his wife broke him, he  dedicated himself to his heroics, but losing his daughter...he was done.  He came after me once, he was drunk. I didn't have the heart to hurt  him overly much, I just subdued him and dumped him on the porch of  Shadowcrest. After a few months of drinking and grieving he just gave  up. Offered himself to the helmet. Said he wanted to protect the world  in her honor but that he couldn't bring himself to continue. Kent told  me about it after the fact."

I'd  been afraid it had been something like that. Zee would be devastated,  but I wasn't surprised. In retrospect Giovanni had been a barely  functional shell of a person even before we left. It was why he clung to  his daughter so tightly. "So, Dr. Fake is running around full time  then. Has he been making trouble for you too?" I'd never liked the  spirit in the helmet, based on what I'd been told at least. Dictators  who insist on order often do a whole bunch of damage without caring too  much about who gets hurt.

He  laughed at that. "Gods no. Nabu is a self obsessed ego-maniac. He  doesn't care about petty grudges, or about theft, unless it happens to  him. Just his precious 'order' and 'maintaining the balance' I stay out  of his way and he stays out of mine. He has world ending magic problems  to deal with and gloating to do. I haven't even run across him more than  maybe once or twice in the last few years, even at the Oblivion Bar."  He paused. "But I don't blame him...the world has gotten...darker.  Thing's are more bleak now than they've ever been, and it's hard to say  exactly why."

Claire  nodded. "It's true. The secretary general of the UN was just leaked as  an alien, partially because another alien showed up hunting him. Though  not all aliens are bad. " She smiled widely. "There's a friendly species  that landed recently called 'The Reach'. They've been going out of  their way to put everyone at ease and have even started integrating with  our culture." She giggled. "Hell, they even released a new soft drink.  I've tried it myself, it's pretty good. Though naming at after  themselves seems a bit egotistical to me still."

See,  that would have been weird to me, I would have been interested but  moved on, however, while we'd all sat down, Dreamer, who I realized I'd  forgotten to introduce, had been standing off to one side not wanting to  intrude. She was in view enough for me to see her aura, and to watch it  light the fuck up light a neon red billboard as soon as she heard the  term The Reach. Considering my girlfriend was a universe traveling  adventurer who had been all over both this reality and many adjacent  ones, I took that as a very bad sign.

I  decided however, that it could wait. For now we were catching up with  loved ones, and I'd been kind of rude. I stood up and walked around the  table, putting my arm around Dreamer. "Ah sorry, I got so excited to see  Jim I forgot to do proper introductions. This is Dreamer, she's my and  Zatanna's girlfriend." Reggie raised an eyebrow at that, and I realized I  hadn't told him yet, Better looked suspicious I was on the up and up,  and possibly worried I'd convert her boyfriend to polyamory, and Jim  shot me a subtle thumbs up under the table that made me choke down a  laugh.

Artemis,  finally working past the issues she was dealing with butted in, taking  some of the pressure off. "Enough about that. I want the juicy details  from when we were gone. We're apparently civilians now because of the  statute of limitations but that doesn't mean we lost all out passion for  the job! Come on Jim, spill! What have you stolen while we've been  away?" I snicked and pulled dreamer to sit down as we settled in to  listen to my mentor. We would deal with everything else later, for now,  we just needed to spend time with our loved ones. Once we left  though...well I wanted to hear what Dreamer knew about "The Reach".