Chapter 30: Biting the Bullet

If there was one thing Albert missed about being anonymous, it would most certainly be the cheap lodging he could acquire. Don't get him wrong, this shitty motel room was cheap as well but nowhere near the absolute deal his usual place had. But anything was better than sleeping with the rats in an alley somewhere.

And with his current lack of income, the stress of having no other choice was slowly beginning to build up.

After all, he had been quite lose with his money as of late. First buying the services of Madame Clements two times thus far wasn't helping matters. And to add insult to injury, buying that hunk of heavy metal that laid besides him whose pinkish handle seem to taunt its current owner.

Even if all those were necessary, it didn't mean he was all too happy about it.

'Maybe I should've scammed Bruce out of more money…'

But he quickly shook that thought out of his head, knowing full well the man wouldn't have taken kindly to having been tricked once. And he was more sure the only reason the caped crusader, or god forbid lawyers, hadn't paid him a painful visit was because of the cost was more like pocket change to the billionaire.

If relative peace was the cost then so be it.

'But enough of that,' He thought, starring dazedly up at the old paint chipped ceiling,' Let's go down the list..'

Even though his first attempt at using Disguise could be considered a failure it could also be counted as a success. While he hadn't recognized himself when looking in the mirror, that hadn't matter when he nearly had a heartache with just a glance. Frankly it gave him an Uncanny Valley feeling. Combine that with his unskilled hands at make up in general and it was a wonder no one had called the cops on them the other night.

'No wonder Willow had that look on her face…'

Speaking of the bombshell, after their foray into the black market she had dropped him off at a semi affordable motel but not without a few words of advice.

"Now that you have a gun," She had said, relaxing in her seat," I feel like I have to tell you, don't let any cops know you have it. If you get caught, don't tell them anything. Really. Do not mention the market to them, they have a few cops in their pockets and they absolutely hate snitches. You're a minor so just take the slap on the wrist and be done with it."

"Oh yeah," The woman continued after a beat," Just because you have a gun doesn't mean anything, everyone has at least one in this shitty district. Don't be waving that around all willy nilly either, that's also a good way to get shot. Only use it when someone else pulls out a weapon. Otherwise just flash it and you can avoid a lot of trouble."

And after a few rounds of farewell, he had watched the woman drive off into the night. Her wise words instilled themselves deep into his mind, street smarts. Just the thing he was missing.

Next on the list, safety, he could consider getting a firearm a success. Not only was it light enough for him to safely carry it around without it getting in the way but also compact enough where he could conceal in one of the many inner pockets of his jacket.

While that might seem like good enough in a world without literal super humans, gods, demons and aliens, that wasn't the world he found himself in. Albert knew that he hadn't been using everything to his advantage…

His inner eye flickered at his memories, focusing in on one particular system message.

[Grimoire Sub-system Activated!]

Just bringing it to the surface nearly made him want to send it further into the depths like some kind of wrathful god, sealing it away forever more under a range of mental defenses. But he had to be honest with himself. As he was currently, this world was WAY to dangerous. Sure skills can take him far, but actually surviving to a point where they would be impactful was another thing entirely.

As much as it pained Albert and as much as it went against every single cautious bone in his body, he felt like there was no other option.

'That's not true..'

He admitted easily enough, there was plenty of options. Falling at the feet of Batman was one such option. Spilling everything he knew about the things to come could afford him some sort of protection that wouldn't jeopardize him.

With a shake of his head, even he had to admit that thinking was equal parts naive and foolish. If the man actually believe him, the teen would find himself at the bottom of a hole somewhere. Safe but not free in the slightest. Being used as nothing more than an information well.

'It's still pretty early in his career,' Albert mused,' Meaning he still has that cruel edge to him…'

So with that in mind, if he didn't want to wind up as a prisoner or dead, this was the only choice somewhat palatable to him.

Breathing out deeply, he mentally pulled on that prompt once more.

[Grimoire Subsystem

Arcane Traditions

Mythos

Fortunecraft]

Now he felt a bit silly, all that build up and that's all it was? He had expected his mind to be inundated with an absolute deluge of information, not a simple system set up. But he would be a fool to underestimate this malicious system so with a mental prod, he chose the first option available to him.

[Arcane Traditions: POW conditions not met.]

Confused, Albert chose the next option.

[Mythos: POW conditions not met.]

Now he began to feel sweat bead at the corner of his brow. It was one thing to chose not to do something but to be able to do it was a completely different feeling. That sense of control that his recent purchases had afford begun to slip through his fingers. Desperate for any semblance of agency, he selected the following option.

[Fortunecraft: LCK expenditure conditions met!]

With that, he relaxed visibly. Recovering but a scrap of calm, he actually began to think.

'It does make some kind of sense, in a sick kind of way.' Albert tried to reason,' From the titles, Arcane Traditions and Mythos seem to have somewhat mystical ties. Wait then what is Fortunecraft?'

Curiosity soon overtook any previous showing of dread in the next moment. Maybe it was that Seeker Archetype waking up from its slumber, catching a mere scent of the unknown and a way to uncover its secrets. Or maybe it was just his natural curiosity, the world may never know. All he did know was that the NEED to know was growing in urgency. And like a man's dry cracked lips, Albert plunged head first into that clear pond.

[Error! Anchor not found!]

Only to find out that the pond that could endlessly satiate his first was in fact only puddle for a few desperate sips.

'What does it mean by anchor?' He asked but already had a sinking feeling well up in his gut,' Maybe...I shouldn't have sold the book?'

He sure hope his greed hadn't just locked him out of everything. If he had….

'No.' Shaking his head to dispel those ever darkening thoughts, he tried to think through this logically.

'The word anchor is usually used in terms of ships or other sea faring vehicles and is an incredibly heavy object that sinks to the sea bottom to keep the vessel in place, or at least to make sure it doesn't drift too far away.'

'It's common for people to use it in terms of friendships or relationships or religion. Like how some people say something is their pillar holding them up, so an anchor would be something to keep them grounded.'

'With that said, I can pretty safely theorize what the system means by it. I'm guessing it needs something to transfer the knowledge too…'

'Yeah, I really shouldn't sold that book.'

Albert groaned aloud, hiding his face in the croak of an elbow. But alas, he did not have the ability to go back in time and slap his past self. And even if he did, that wouldn't be the time he would travel too.

There was no use crying over spilled milk, he could only try and find a solution.

'Maybe..?'

A sudden thought had him rummaging through the nearby night stand. Old newspapers, post-it notes, magazines and even a whole bible. All of them were laid out haphazardly on his temporary lumpy bed.

"The beginning to any discover begins with a crazy idea.."

So with that in mind, Albert snatched up a singular bright pink post-it note and tried to trigger the system again.

[Fortunecraft: Anchor found! Transferring…]

Excitement soon morphed into horror as a searing sensation spiked into the tips of his fingers. Yelping, he released his fingers and blew on his now blackened appendages.

[HP: 19/20]

Quickly patting away at the embers that threatened to catch his room ablaze, Albert collapsed next to the bed in defeat. Stretching out those blackened tips before him, the future spread out ominously in the distance.

"It seems like my next couple of days will be filled with both frustration and pain…"

**********************************************************************************

"Bruce."

The brooding man in question didn't even blink at the distinctly cold voice calling out. Chilly blue eyes etched with light visible red lines seemed to glare a hole into the brightly lit monitor before him. Matted black hair stuck greasily to the man's forehead, a slightly pungent stench mirrored his intimating presence.

"It's no use." A youthful voice sighed in exasperation," He's been like this for awhile now."

The young man laid around languidly, long limbs trenched out to encompass the entirety of the love seat. Black hair frizzed up into a wild mess, dark blues behind a small domino flickered between the screen in his hands and the annoyed red head before them.

"Yes." Another voice, more cultured and refined, spoke with obvious distaste," Master Bruce, even with Miss Kyle not here you must take better care of yourself. At least take a run through the industrial shower.."

"Not now Alfred."

Bruce waved off the silver haired man.

"See?" Dick yawned, stretching out until a series of audible pops were released," Told ya, he gets in one of these funks every once and awhile."

"I will give him until tonight," Alfred huffed, patting away at imaginary dust on his primly ironed suit," Then he will be getting the hose."

And with that, the old man turned and marched his way out into the darkness. Crisp shoes echoing loudly in the underground cave system. The teen visibly shuttered as memories of being hosed down entered his mind.

'Never again, it's like taking an ice bath…'

"Fine," Barbara sighed in defeat, slumping down into another nearby couch," I can wait, it's not like I have exams to prepare for anything…"

"Yeah right." Robin snorted, giving the red head all of his attention," Like you need it, how is it going with Nelson?"

"Not well." She scowled over at the large pile of angst," It seems we underestimated how skittish he is. After that little note, he immediately went to ground. Good thing he still has his phone…"

"Oh." The teen laid the tablet over his face, trying to hide how relieved he was at the lack of progress. Honestly who would WANT to hear about their crush cozying up to someone else, maybe some people were into that kind of things but he was not. Whatsoever. "So he hasn't left Gotham?"

"No," Barbara shook out her hair from it's previous confines, sending down locks of copper to pool around her shoulders," Finding him isn't the problem. Trying to bump into him in such a way as to not come off as suspicious is. If he still visited Coffee Stains then it wouldn't be a problem, but the old man hasn't seen him in a couple of days."

"Maybe you guys shouldn't have spooked him…"

He mumbled, still feeling a bit sour at their scheming. The plan itself was logical in a way. After cutting the teen from support and increasing the amount of pressure on him until the red head could swoop in like some kind of valkyrie. Ingratiating herself with Nelson and possibly making her his only pillar of support in Gotham. Perfect to manipulate and extract as much information as possible.

But to Dick, the plan lacked one very important thing. Empathy. While his actions could be seen as suspicious, especially with how much chaos had incurred ever since the teen had stepped foot in Gotham. It still didn't sit right in his gut at the idea of using Nelson like some kind of information well.

"I heard that," The red head rolled her green eyes before sinking further into the soft cushions," But maybe in hindsight, you're right. I got impatient I know."

"What do you plan to do next?"

He decided not to harp too badly on the girl, and saw moving the conversation forward seem like a better way to spend their time than throwing around rightfully placed blame.

"I just don't know." She hissed, rubbing at her eyelids in frustration," I'm nearing the end of my rope, there's no way for me to approach him. He usually changes motels everyday, primarily traveling only in the middle of rush hour. I'm afraid he'll take more drastic actions if I spook him further."

"You have his number right?"

Dick knew the red head was smart, like really REALLY smart. But sometimes, she just always seem to want to take the most difficult path forward. He could set aside his own feelings, just this once, to point something obvious out to her. Barbara might've been his crush for a long time now, but at the end of the day she was his only actual friend. People from school didn't really count for multiple reasons.

The most obvious reason being the knowledge of him being the ward of the vaunted Bruce Wayne. Everyone who was anyone would kill to get in good with the elusive billionaire through any means necessary. Like for instance, strong arming their children to play nice with the man's little project.

The second being the fact that any friends that didn't approach him solely because of who took him in, even then there would problems. His secret second life being the sticking point. Who in their right minds would be willing to keep trying to hang out when their offers kept being rejected time and time again. Even the most persistent of people would eventually get the point and simply stop.

Contacts and long opened messages fluttered through his inner eye, letters failing to fill that gaping maw of loneliness he felt sometimes. Especially with Bruce's frequent escapades with any attractive woman or interesting case, the young woman's visits were like a balm to his soul.

If Dick had to give advice that left wrenches in his heart to the girl he crushed on heavily just to no longer feel so alone, then so be it.

In response to the teen's causal question, her mouth dropped open into a perpetual 'O' shape. Emeralds gazing off into the distance, thoughts racing through her mind like a river after a heavy storm. It was a few seconds of relative silence, only the occasional bat screeching in the distance to add any ambiance.

"…." Barbara was dumbfounded, the thought had never entered her mind whatsoever. She had been thinking of ways to get him to contact her first. While it would be simpler if he had, it wouldn't be by much at all. Why hadn't the idea even formed?

'Arrogance?'

She nearly wanted to throttle her past self, the image of her father chuckling heartedly at her current plight came easily to the forefront.

"I'm guessing not?"

He didn't know how he felt after seeing the sudden spike of realization, a dash of concern and another of jealousy maybe?

"I guess not," Her cheeks soon took a similar color as her coppery locks," I can't believe I didn't think of that…"

She really did feel oh so incredibly embarrassed after being called out like that and honestly the urge to flee into the dark cave was growing with each passing moment.

"That can wait." Bruce's grave voice broke into their conversation, causing the two's heads to snap at the slowly rising man," Something is brewing."

"What makes you say that?"

Dick asked while also rising to his feet with a hint of predatory grace, given his mentor's current mood cracking some skulls would quickly be in the near future.

"There's been a sudden drop in crime over the last couple of week."

The man said simply, starting to pace with strong strides. His answer nearly made Dick want to roll his eyes, but he knew Bruce well enough. The detective just needed a wall to bounce ideas off of, as his sidekick it was a matter of course.

"Isn't the a good thing?"

"Normally yes," Bruce grunted, muscles bunching in a show of tension," But this is Gotham. Crime just doesn't drop without something happening, or someone's pulling the strings behind stage."

"But isn't the being paranoid? Isn't that what we wanted? For crime in Gotham to become more manageable so that the police could handle it?"

"Paranoid? Maybe." The man acquiesced," But when I tried to get information from my usual sources, they were gone."

"Gone?" Dick froze, already thinking of the worst," Gone how?"

"Just as I said," Bruce growled, frustration evident in his voice," Gone. Disappeared into the wind. Some dead, others fleeing the city and most hunkering down."

"That doesn't sound good…"

The teen frowned, feeling as though his head was like an iceberg and someone was using ice picks to climb up it's surface.

"No." Bruce grunted in agreement, feeling as the stumble on his strong chin," It doesn't. Selina's note tipped me off to it."

'Cats are said to be able to sense danger…'

The teen mused internally, knowing full well never to voice just thoughts aloud. Especially not in front of the man before him.

"I keep hearing that 'something' is going to happen." Barbara asked in exasperation," But I'm not hearing what to look out for. We can't comb over the city in search of 'something'."

Dick nodded in agreement, feeling at ease that the coppery haired girl had gotten over her little funk. Situations like these were where she shined the most. Working on little known facts and hunches but still having the mind to stick to reality. Following a hunch was fine and dandy but searching for clues in a pile of jagged glass was another. It seem like they would be spending the next couple of days kicking over hornets nets.

"We'll do exactly that." Bruce proclaimed, fitting that black cowl back over his face," Let's start with Penguin..."

And with that, the Dark Knightmarched his way into the shadows. Becoming more akin to a fish in water as the legend himself swam into the inky darkness.

"You coming?"

Robin asked over his shoulder as he quickly followed after the guardian angel of Gotham City. Body itching in anticipation, he had been out of action for a good couple of days and this seem like a good way to break his funk.

"You know it."

Batgirl smirked as she too slipped a bat themed cowl over her head, eyes glimmering in anticipation that mirrored the teens'.