With These Hands

Batman was not happy. 

He'd found the Joker at the Ace Chemical Plant but as always, the clown didn't make it simple. He spent the better part of the night beating up Joker's goons, evading traps and chasing the clown around. 

Only when he was close to getting him did he reveal that he had his goons plant a bomb in the city. 

Batman was then forced to make a choice between catching the Joker and stopping the bomb. With the Joker, it was difficult to discern whether he was bluffing or not. 

He couldn't take that risk. 

Fortunately for him, Joker had let it slip where the bomb was during his monologue. He was on his way there but the police sirens in that direction had him confused. 

Before long, he was at the apparent location of the bomb, the Gotham City Police Department already surrounding the scene. 

"Jim." He called out in his usual gruff tone as he exited his vehicle, the man in question turning to look at him. "What happened?"

The commissioner rubbed his forehead for a moment. "I'm not sure either. We got a call at the station about Joker's thugs being in the area."

"When we got here, we found them like this." He explained, walking Batman through the scene. 

They walked into the warehouse, Batman's eyes narrowing at the lack of a bomb.

'Whoever did this took the bomb. Why?' He pondered, looking around the scene for evidence. 

As Jim opened his mouth to speak, they were interrupted by the scream of one of the thugs that was supposed to be unconscious. 

"Nooo!!! I didn't do it! You have to understand!" He screamed nonsensically, thrashing around on the floor before getting up. 

Attempt was a better term seeing as how he staggered before falling back to the ground weakly. 

"Freeze!" The officers had already drawn their guns towards him. 

Despite that, they didn't seem to register in his mind as he cowered from something unseen. "Don't kill me again! I'll do anything."

Batman quickly sprung into action, grabbing the thug and forcing him upright. The thug froze for a moment, a confused look appearing. 

"Mom? Is that you?" He whispered. 

Batman narrowed his eyes before turning back to the commissioner. "He's hallucinating." 

"Keep an eye on the others. Be careful." Gordon ordered his men who quickly obeyed. 

Batman then noticed the darkened veins around the thug's neck as well as bite wounds. 

'What could have done this?' He mused. 

-[Liam]-

Far away from the scene, Liam let out a calming breath. He'd managed to shake one of the thugs awake and use his phone to call the cops before knocking him out again. 

He didn't stick around after that but he'd used the shirt of one of the thugs as a rag to clean up any traces of his blood on the ground or on the bullets before tossing it into his inventory along with the bombs. 

No need to tempt any passerby who happened onto the scene. 

This was not how he saw his night going but he gained something important from it; he figured out his 'psychic power' or at least a part of it. 

What he needed now was dinner and a long sleep. 

'I feel like I'm forgetting something.' He thought as he made his way home. 

•••

The next day came quicker than he expected. There was no Batman knocking on his door which he was happy for. 

Public schools didn't have a dress code so he was free to continue wearing very baggy clothing without worries which is what he didn't do. 

Some may it stupid but he was proud of his physique. His clothes hung off his frame but it barely did anything to hide his changes. 

"Liam." Someone called out to him as he left for recess. Turning around, he found David making his way towards him. 

"Everything alright?" Liam asked in confusion as the boy looked around for a moment. 

David nodded his head to the side, gesturing for him to follow. They walked in silence until they reached a hallway with too many people talking at once to pay attention to them. 

"That stuff you gave me and Jerry, it is the bomb!" He said in excitement which was loud enough for him to hear but smothered from others by chatter. 

"That's good news. I'll pass on the review. I take it that you want more?" Liam questioned, hiding his smirk. 

"I told some of my guys and they want in on it too. You said the first one was free, how much is it?" David asked. 

The Euphoria drug was addictive so he wasn't too worried about them not wanting more. They'd come back once they had a taste of it and they'd continue coming back. 

"Thirty dollars a pack. What I gave you and Jerry was two packs." He explained, the other boy having a look of contemplation. 

It wasn't too expensive but it wasn't too cheap either. With the flowers he bought for nineteen dollars, he made four packs. Selling each pack for thirty dollars would net him about a hundred dollars in profit. 

After a moment, David nodded his head. "How soon can you get more?"

"I've got two packs on me so that'll be sixty. Text me how many more you want and I'll have them by tomorrow." Liam explained, surprising the boy. 

"That's fast."

"Yeah, he likes to be prompt." Liam retorted as he made a show of digging into his bag as he pulled out two packs from his inventory before stuffing them inside a textbook. 

Handing it to David, he smiled as he snatched the money from his hand. After their exchange of contacts, Liam looked around a bit before looking back to David. 

"One more thing." He said, catching his attention. 

As soon as their eyes met, David's eyes became unfocused. "You will not reveal my identity to anyone who interrogates you about who gave you the drugs. You will act as my proxy and help me sell them to the best of your ability without alerting the authorities or cheating me."

He was happy as he felt the familiar click in his brain, signifying his success. 

David's eyes regained focus with a look of slight confusion. "What happened?"

"You zoned out for a moment there. You must be really tired." He lied with ease. 

"Probably. Anyways, I'll see you around." David said, walking away. 

Liam took a moment to see if anyone was paying attention to their interaction. He also employed his enhanced sense of hearing and to his delight, he was in the clear. 

Was it right to compel him to do that? No, but he did it anyway. To live comfortably in Gotham, he had to do whatever it took. 

Walking back to class as the bell rang for the end of recess, he made a mental note to get a second phone and more flowers. 

-[Artemis]-

Looking at the dark haired boy that walked the hallway, she couldn't help the confusion on her face. 

He'd been the talk of class for a while now in regards to his change from a fat loser to a decent eye candy. 

Now he was even hanging out with David who was one of the popular kids. 

She hadn't noticed him before but she surely noticed him now. She couldn't help but wonder what caused it because it was too drastic to be normal. 

Unless he was sick.

"Artemis come on. We're going to be late for class." The girl beside her urged. 

"Huh? Oh right." Her attention quickly snapped back to her but not fast enough.

"Something catch your eye? Or perhaps someone." She teased in a singsong voice. 

Artemis scoffed. "Nope."

"Come on. You can't tell me you're not even a little interested. I won't judge." The girl said, wiggling her eyebrows suggestively. 

She didn't even deign to give a response to that as they made their way to class. 

'Eye candy indeed.' She thought.