Chapter 17

-[Artemis]-

She was conflicted. 

Of all the things she saw happening this year, seeing the quiet fatso in school turn into a hunk wasn't one of them. Getting close to him definitely wasn't one of them. 

That was why she was conflicted. 

The walls she had built around her allowed her to keep her private life a secret without it being suspicious. She didn't have friends over, she avoided topics about her parents. 

What was she supposed to tell them? 

'Hey, my mom is doing hard time in prison and my dad is probably somewhere across the country putting an exploding javelin through someone's head.' She scoffed at that line of thought. 

It wasn't like her hands were completely clean either, not that she was proud of it. 

She could still recall the numerous tests and combat simulations her father put her through, made worse after Jade's exit. 

Despite all of that hidden baggage and the fact that she would probably face some time in juvie if everything came out in the open, she couldn't help it.

Liam had wormed his way through a number of her barriers and at the rate things were going, it wouldn't be long before he got through all of them. 

The rational part of her screamed for her to pull back and avoid him while the other part of her was excited to get even closer to him. 

What started off as a mere physical attraction had gone past that. 

Letting out a sigh, she looked away from the seat towards the back of the class where Liam usually sat. 

It was empty today. 

Someone nudged her from the side, causing her to turn and see her friend looking at her in equal amounts of concern and confusion. 

"Girl, this is the third time you've sighed in the past ten minutes while looking at that seat." The girl whispered. 

"I don't know what you're talking about." Artemis denied with a huff. 

Oh how she really did.

-[Liam]-

Despite wanting to take some time to rest, there was still work to be done. The night had quickly passed and the day of the auction had arrived. 

He had no experience making a website so he did the next best thing; getting someone on Craigslist to do it. 

Apparently, the offer of a job interview as well as a free trip to Gotham for it was enough incentive to get people interested. 

The guy he picked was a fresh graduate looking to pay some overdue bills. His skills were good enough for what he needed; a barebones auction website. 

Some brain stimulating concoctions and energy boosters had him working non stop at two hundred percent capacity. 

That was after his movie date with Artemis five days ago. Now, everything was ready. 

Sitting in a private booth of a cafe, his temporary employee sat beside him in front of a laptop, content and compelled.

'Let the auction begin.'

-[Bruce Wayne]-

Sitting in his office at Wayne Enterprise, he watched with rapt attention as the timer on his screen ticked down. 

He'd gotten a link to this site via the same way he was informed about the auction. With barely a minute till the auction started, he had no time to begin tracing the server. 

An antidote for Joker toxins and Fear gas, he couldn't miss it. If he could get his hands on it, he might have some luck replicating it. 

That only reminded him about his recent encounter with Liam, the sixteen year old highschool student who figured out his secret identity. 

The sixteen year old highschool student who made a cure for cancer and was trying to sell said cure to him. 

He had a suspicion that he was also behind this auction but he would hold his judgment until he had concrete proof. 

The timer then hit zero before it switched to a screen showing the details of the product. Below it, numbers began popping up; bids. 

The opening bid was three million dollars. Someone had then put up three and a half million. There was a timer of ten seconds following each bid, if no bid was placed after that then the auction would end. 

Another feature of the auction was anonymity. The bidders didn't know who they were bidding against. 

Someone put up four million before a five million bid quickly smashed through it. 

He needed to get this antidote. 

5,600,000.

6,000,000. 

6,700,000. 

With a resolute look, he began typing in his bid. 

-[Liam]-

'30 million? Damn Bruce!' He thought as the auction ended. 

As the host, he could see who each bid belonged to. Penguin and Falcone had started off the bidding with a few other wealthy individuals before Stagg raised the bid higher. He, in turn, was then pushed out by Bruce and Lex. 

From the start, he already knew that it would end with the two of them; they had a lot of money to spare. 

He half expected Luthor to win but the man stopped after Bruce offered thirty against his twenty five million. 

'It looks like I have one more thing to discuss with him.' He thought with a shake of his head. 

-[Artemis]-

School was done for the day and she was tired.

Entering the apartment building and navigating her way to her living unit, she let out a tired sigh, dropping her bag at the foot of the bed and falling onto the soft mattress. 

"Rough day?" A voice suddenly said, startling her into action as she rolled off the bed and into a combat stance. 

A chuckle rang through the air as a blond man climbed in through the window, bringing a frown to her face. 

"Dad." She ground out as she forced herself to relax, or at least appear relaxed. 

The last time the man showed up was a few months ago for some brutal training. She lived on government pension from the fact that her mother was in prison. Once in a while there was some money pitched in from her father to keep up appearances. 

"Is that any way to greet your father?" The man asked, more amused than offended. 

"I've got a job for you, baby girl. One that even you can't screw up." He started, pulling out a picture from his pocket and tossing it to her. 

She wanted out of this. She was tired of the criminal life that he and her mother led. The same criminal life that he was slowly dragging her into. 

"I want you to find out everything you can about this kid. You might even be familiar with him." He continued. 

A pit formed in her stomach as she laid eyes on the picture of a boy. 

Vincent Jones, Liam's closest friend. 

Was this fate telling her that she was fooling herself? Why did this have to happen to her? Why?