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Author's Note: I'm sorry for the delay again, its just been one of those hectic times. I was having a bit of a problem with the opening scene as well. I'm not saying its a resolution but its a "patch" for her problem at the moment. The story will move on and periodically go back to the problem so its definitely not over. I want to give a big thank you to Faeriefyre for helping me with that scene and to Donjo and Starbuck for their insight. I also have to thank djkauf for the editing and DC Comics for their characters.

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Chapter Six:

Mr. Walters---call me John---had one of those smiles. It was the smile of a man that one could both trust and detest at the same time. Sitting across from me in his fancy expensive suit, silver tie and gold cufflinks, I wasn’t sure whether he was a big joke or my greatest savior. Since arriving five minutes ago, the only thing either of us did was introduce ourselves. I think he was giving me the once over, probably trying to decide if I was worth his time. I’m not talking about romantically either. He was handsome but he was pushing fifty at least. Besides, I didn’t intend to make a habit out of dating slime balls. Not that I was going to date anyone, but thanks to “John” I now knew what type of man I didn’t want.

He cleared his throat, carefully setting his briefcase on the table. But he made no move to open it. Instead, he flashed me another toothy smile. "Are you sure that you want to have this meeting in the food court? I can't really guarantee confidentiality, here."

I smiled. “I feel safer here, lots of people.”

“But anyone can be watching.”

I only slightly glanced around, my eyes lingering on Luke for a moment before looking at the other faces around me. I tried to tell if any of them actually knew who I was, but from the way they were acting, no one seemed to give me a second glance. Ok so there was a guy sitting by himself---college age or so. When I looked at him, he raised his eyebrows in a come hither look. I curled my lip in disgust and turned back to John. He was smiling smugly, sure that he made his point.

“I can trust these people about as much as I can trust you.”

“Good point.”

“I’m glad we’re on the same page then.”

There was another moment of uneasy silence before he spoke again. “I’ve had a chance to review some of the paperwork your assistant sent over but I’d like to ask you a few questions about your situation.” I nodded so he continued. “For starters, why don’t you tell me everything in your own words and we’ll go from there.”

I took a deep breath and told him everything I knew. He nodded his head here and then, jotting notes down on a legal pad every so often. I ended with. “So they’ve completely shut me out of the company, they have control of my stocks and every day they seem to be putting new restrictions on me. So in other words, my situation in hopeless.”

He smiled from ear to ear. “Miss King, hopeless is what I do best.”

Those words had little real comfort but it was a start.

He finally opened his briefcase, taking out a folder. When he opened it up, the first thing I saw was a copy of my grandfather’s Will. After the whole fiasco with the Board before, I made sure I read the whole thing thoroughly. It turns out that my earlier assessment of the situation was off a bit. The Old Man left me the majority of the company but it turned out to be no more than sixty-two percent, the rest of the company given to charities and the other stockholders. The one good thing of it was the fact that Scarlet seemed to be the Executor but even that seemed to be a bit off to me. It bothered me that she was allowing these bastards to walk all over me like she was.

"As far as the Will is concerned, I think we should honor your grandfather's wishes and wait until you're 21 to take over primary control of the company. You're just 16 years old. I really don't think you're ready to take the reins of a multi-national corporation, are you?"

“Not on your life.”

"That's what I thought. So, the strategy is to keep the board from freezing you out, in the meantime."

“That’s the idea.”

He smiled. “The first thing we need to do is remove the Conflict of Interest.”

“What are you talking about?”

“Your grandfather named Jackson Pierce as your legal representation and Power of Attorney but Mr. Pierce is actually a member of said Board, something I’m sure you were not made privy to?” I shook my head, he sighed. “It’s a good thing you contacted me when you did.”

I nodded. It’s a good thing I was able to get through to Mr. Wayne as well. That made things extremely suspect to me. Joanna was turning into a good friend but I couldn’t help but wonder how much of that friendship was an act. Her father was on the Board and it was just rather convenient that he sent his daughter to “help” me. I didn’t want to blame her but she had spy written all over her. I made a mental note to terminate Joanna’s services. Like her father, she had too much at stake. I guess I would also have to pull out of P, P, P effective immediately, I guess there was no loss there. I definitely didn’t want a lawyer who I couldn’t trust and who I knew hated me.

“So what can we do about Pierce?”

“We’re going to have to get an injunction against him and revoke his Power of Attorney status.”

I nodded. I guess that made sense. But that still left me with one small problem. “What about Ross?”

John smiled. He moved around some papers in his folder and took out another sheet, turning it to face me. “This the paper he made you sign?” I looked at it, my eyes bugging out of my head. “I take it from your expression that this is the right one.”

“Where did you get that?”

It was clearly a copy but still---I thought things like that were confidential.

“I have my ways,” he said with a smirk. Then he tapped the paper toward the bottom. “Mr. Ross may have filed the proxy but he’s not in control of it, Mr. Pierce is. If we remove him as Power of Attorney then this proxy is null and void, meaning that this paper is no better than something to fuel your bonfire with.”

I couldn’t help but smile. I was dead wrong about Walters. When he first showed up, I seriously considered bailing immediately, especially when he opened his mouth. He looked like a slime and talked like a slime but he definitely didn’t play like one. He knew his stuff, ten times better than Joanna and Jade. Now looking at this man and feeling the confidence he gave off, I truly believed Mr. Wayne’s words about things being better.

I sighed heavily. “You’re a life saver.”

“It’s a start,” he said, returning the papers to the folder. He put the folder back into his briefcase and took out another. When he opened it, he had a look that told me something was wrong. “We need to talk about the widow.”

I was confused at first until I remembered he was speaking about Isabel. “What about her?”

“I’m finding it very hard to believe that she’s remained mum during all this.”

“You think she’s involved?”

“It might be worth the investigation. I have a few friends, some favors. I think it might be wise to look into her and the Executor as well.”

“Scarlet?”

He nodded. “Isabel has too much to lose and remaining silent seems fishy. Plus I’m concerned about Miss Jefferies; she’s too much of a professional to let things slide like this. It bothers me that she led you into that meeting so unprepared and then abandoning you so quickly afterwards” He shook his head. “There’s something not right there.”

Scarlet and the Bimbo, I never really gave either the time of day. Especially Isabel because she was, well, Isabel. Scarlet on the other hand, maybe John was right. I took a deep breath and let it out slowly. “Do it as discreetly as you can.”

He smiled, reaching forward and gently taking my hand. I flinched, expecting him to make some kind of lewd move on me. But his touch was gentle, comforting in fact. "I'm gonna take care of you, hon. Don't worry about a thing. I gather your grandfather would have expected nothing less."

The meeting ended after that. John left first, disappearing into the crowd as it were. I sighed heavily as he slowly vanished from sight. I laughed at myself for pegging him all wrong. Sure, he was not what I expected and definitely someone I would not have hired but he was good. When the meeting started, I was confident he was going to disappoint me and waste my time but now I found myself strangely trusting him. I think it was his final words to me, the way he held my hand so sincerely. He had my back, he was going to make things better and then maybe I could finally start reclaiming some of that which belonged to me.

I pulled out my cell after a minute or two, dialing Luke’s number. He answered on the second ring. “I’m done,” I said with a big, happy smile.

“You want me to come in there with you?” asked Luke as we stared at the gray building through the windshield.

I shook my head but most of my attention was on the building. The last time I’d been here was back before vacation. Roy dragged me along for a rock climbing excursion. The Gym just put in one of those really cool rock climbing walls. Roy had been raving about it for weeks and finally talked me into going with him. I remember walking through those doors and first thing that came out of Ted’s mouth was a complaint about me being a girl. He might have been one of the toughest sons of bitches on the west coast but he was still the biggest chauvinist I’d ever met. I knew his type, the gym was meant for the manly boys and girly ones not even bother to step through the door. If I was an actual girl then it was probably ten times worse.

I smirked at the memory and continued staring at the place.

The Gym was wedged in-between an old dollar store and an antique mall that had definitely seen better days. It wasn’t the best neighborhood---probably the reason why Luke didn’t want me to leave the car alone---but it was a good spot. Judging by the several cars parked around the place, the Gym did good business. Probably better than most. The building itself had seen better days, though, that’s for sure. The gray paint was peeling, showing signs of wear and tear. It looked like it had once been white, possibly with black tiger stripes. The elements were definitely not good to the place. Most of the front was glass, probably to show those walking by what might be going on inside. But it was clear that someone gave up washing the windows a while ago because from the outside there was nothing but a fine layer of dust.

Lots of business but no care.

Luke asked his earlier question again, adding a “you really sure you want to go in there?” at the end of it.

I laughed. “I’ve been here before, I’ll be all right.”

“That was before; things are a bit different now.”

I frowned. I was about to tell him I’d be fine when the throaty roar of an old era muscle car came rumbling toward us. I turned my head and caught glimpse of a primer black Chevelle. It pulled into the spot next to ours, emitting a bit of black smoke from its tail pipe as it did so. No, I’m not suddenly a super car expert. But I did know that car. The last time I saw it though it was in Roy’s garage, with no engine, headlights or wheels. It was a Junker, given to Roy as a fixer up. His foster father, Broken Bow, told him that if he could fix up the car then he’d teach Roy how to drive it. That was a little over a year ago. Roy spent a lot of his free time on the car. It had apparently paid off in the last few months too because it was running fine now, save for the smoke of course.
It was a nice car but paled in comparison to the Mercedes S Class I was currently sitting in. Seeing that car and mine, I felt like an overdressed girl ready to embark on a casual date.

He got out of his car first, giving the Mercedes a nice once over. Then he walked over, I rolled the window down as he did so. I had to fight back the urge to congratulate him on finally finishing his “baby”. Instead, I opened my mouth and mimicked his exact same words when we both said “nice car” at the same time, which of course was followed by laughing.

I caught Luke rolling his eyes but didn’t comment. Instead, I reached over the seat and grabbed my gym bag. Before Luke could say another word, I opened the door and got out. Roy closed the door for me and the two of us walked slowly toward the Wild Cat. It was strange but if you didn’t know the place, it was almost impossible to find. The only sign was stenciled on the door in fading letters. At one time, it probably said Grant’s Wild Cat or something but now all it truly said was Grant’s. Roy pushed open the door, holding it open for me. The first thing that assaulted my senses was the smell---like a sweaty gym sock.

The second thing was the noise.

It didn’t take me long to locate the source. The Gym was set up with a few different things in mind because Ted was a well-rounded kind of guy. Off at one end was a workout area where the rock-climbing wall was, on the other end was a small karate dojo. Smack dab in the middle of both, taking up most of the room, was a boxing ring.

All the noise was coming from there. There was a crowd of men around it, shouting and waving their fists. In the ring, two burly, sweaty guys were going at it. It was a wild match of fists and feet. I cringed when one of them took a low blow, possibly near the groin. A few of the guys made pained noises. The fighter shook it off and threw a quick jab to his opponent’s face, which was easily deflected.

“I thought this was a boxing ring?” I asked loudly.

No one else heard me but Roy. “They’re not boxing; it looks like some form of mixed martial arts at the moment.”

“Lenny” a loud voice shouted, shattering my eardrums or close enough. “You need to concentrate; you’re never going to beat that upstart from Seattle unless you stay on your toes.”

Lenny it would appear was the one who was currently getting his ass kicked.

“C’mon, let’s get out of the way before things get really out of control.”

Roy took my hand. It never even occurred to him that this wasn’t something you just didn’t do with a stranger. Well, almost stranger. I didn’t protest though. It felt kind of nice. I shook those thoughts away as he led me away from the ring toward the work out section of the Gym. There was an over abundant amount of workout equipment and a few beefy guys trying to become a little more so. They barely noticed Roy but the sight of me raised an eyebrow or two. Looking around the place it was clear I was definitely the only girl. The last time I was here, there was another one---the Japanese exchange student Shado. She was over in the dojo then, showing everyone in the place how flexible, she could be. According to Mia, Shado was back home now. So I’d be getting no sisterhood from her.

Roy stirred me through the equipment toward a door wedged in the far corner. I wouldn’t have even noticed it if Roy hadn’t led me there. It was painted white like everything else, the words OFFICE crudely written on it in black. Roy knocked once then opened the door. Another strange smell hit me but this one was actually soothing. Jasmine maybe. I looked around the cramped office, looking for the source. The room was definitely crowded, far too much stuff for such a small space. A desk, two filing cabinets, a bookcase and a beat up old couch. The walls were lined with framed pictures and newspaper clippings. They went all around the room, ending behind the desk where a beat up beat of boxing gloves hung on a hook underneath a framed poster. The poster was old, yellowed on the edges. It was for some magician, John Zatara. Clearly, it held some significance for the man sitting in the chair underneath it all.

Ted Grant was a presence. He was about six foot two, weighed about two sixty and was built like an ox. His hair was jet black, usually slicked; the sides of which were turning white, the only sign that the man was aging in the least. He had chiseled features, his face misshapen in places from taking so many blows. His nose looked to have been broken more than once and there was a scar over his left eye. His hands were his most distinguishing feature because he always had them wrapped in white boxing tape. Today was no different. He sat at the desk, dressed in army fatigues and black muscle shirt, both of which had seen better days.

“Harper” he grumbled, his voice was gruff. “What did I tell you about girls?”

Roy stumbled over his words as he answered. “I thought you could make an exception just this once.”

Ted squinted his eyes, scrutinizing me. He stared for a while before answering. “You made of gold and diamonds, girly?”

I smirked. “Not quite but if that’s what you want, I can probably arrange it.”

There was a hint of a smile on his craggy face but only for a second.

“I’m not interested, take your business elsewhere.”

“You don’t even know what she’s here for,” groaned Roy.

Ted laughed. “I have a pretty good idea. She’s a Little Miss Fancypants, wants to turn this place into the next big thing, probably get me plastered all over Entertainment Tonight or whatnot. I’m not interested in being the next big thing, so take your business elsewhere.”

I scoffed. Same Old Ted. “Look my doctor says I need physical therapy but I figure this place is a much better place than some stuffy doctor’s office or whatever.”

He laughed. “You thought wrong. The Gym is not an alternative to physical therapy. Swallow your pride, girly, and follow your doctor’s orders.”

I decided to change my tact. “I can pay you whatever you want.”

He shook his head. “I don’t want your money.”

“What about new equipment? Or maybe even a sponsorship, I have some connections…”

He cut me off. “I don’t want your charity, I want you gone. I’ve got enough problems with all these yahoos from wherever flocking to this place day in and day out. All of them want to train where the great Ted Grant trains. Well, news flash, I don’t train anymore, I don’t take on students and I don’t cater to little snot nose upstarts who like to flash Daddy’s checkbook around.”

Roy lowered his head, clearly defeated. Me, I wanted one more crack at it. “I don’t want to train, I don’t want to be your student and the only checkbook I’m flashing around is mine. The money is mine to do with as I please. All I’m asking is that you let me fill out my physical therapy requirement in your Gym.”

Ted was quiet for a long time then smirked. I’m not sure if that was a good thing or a bad thing. Then he laughed, which really scared me. When he finally spoke, I wasn’t sure what he was going to say.

“You’ve got spunk I’ll give you that.” He sighed heavily. “We don’t have a ladies’ locker room so you’re going to have to change in the back in the storage room, it’s a bit drafty in there but it’s the best place for it.”

I smiled. “Does that mean you’ll let me stay?”

He nodded. I smiled and wanted to hug him. I knew that wasn’t going to happen so I hugged the next best thing, which turned out to be a very surprised Roy.

Just as Ted said, the storeroom was a bit drafty. I dressed as quickly as I could, putting on my workout clothes: white tank, black work out pants, white running shoes. I’m not really sure if it was the right or wrong thing to wear but they were comfortable. I used some bobby pins to put my braid up on the top of my head then exited the room as fast as possible. There was a narrow hallway leading to the main room. I raced down it as quickly as possible. There was something about it that sent a shiver up my spine. I guess it was the idea that turning around was a bit difficult. I didn’t like the idea of being boxed in like that, even if it was a hall.

As soon as I got to the door, I took a deep breath and stepped out into the Gym. I scanned the room, trying to find the best place to start. Surprisingly there was a lot going on. I looked over at the workout equipment, wondering if I could even attempt any of it. There was a gym back at the tower but I had yet to visit it. I think it was there for the employees mostly, a place to unwind either after or between hectic hours. I saw people coming and going from time to time. I guess I was always just afraid to go in there. As Jonas, I was never that athletic, well not in that sense. I had some upper body strength due to archery but nothing to boast about. In gym class at school---back before my unsightly developments---I was always picked last for team sports. No one wanted the girly, frail kid on their team.

Not that I ever let them bother me. The way I saw it, they were good at something and I was good at something else. I didn’t try to compete with them because my skill set was not in the same ballpark as theirs. It made me feel kind of special to be able to shoot so well. According to Merlyn, there were very few people who could hit targets like me. In fact, I was the youngest one he’d ever seen. I think that’s what made him so jealous. It was common knowledge that Merlyn didn’t take up archery until high school. I think it pissed him off that a kid so young had such raw talent. That’s why I think he kept upping the ante in my training, always trying to push me to my limit and beyond. He tried to force things out of me, things he wanted and I didn’t. In the end, those things were his own downfall.

I sighed heavily, looking over at the ring. The two guys were no longer going at it. The crowd that had gathered was gone, too. Some of them were working out on the equipment but it looked like most had left. The Gym was now barely half full. Those that were still there were either lingering about or trying to look busy. I spotted a few on the climbing wall and one of the fighters was pounding his fists into a punching bag. It was the one who lost or was losing---Lenny, I think his name was. I found myself wandering over, trying to decide if pounding the other bag was something I wanted to do.

His trainer was there hassling him. “You let that guy walk all over you.”

“I’m safe, coach, but there’s no way I’m going to be ready for McKinley, he’s way out of my league.”

“You keep talking like that and he will be,” snapped his trainer.

I looked at the poor guy, caught his eye and smiled weakly. He gave me a disgusted look, which only made me wish that this McKinley---whoever he may be–had knocked the son of a bitch flat on his ass. Being near them also made my decision for me---they stunk up the air. So I left the area and started to wander toward the dojo. As I did, I heard a familiar sound. It was the slight whistling sound that drew me. I looked and smiled. There was Roy, bow in hand. He dressed in the warm up clothes of our school team: red shirt, yellow windbreaker pants. Roy’s bow was a Matthew’s, one of the new Conquests I think. It was a nice piece of equipment: integral grip, carbon cable rod and a nice shiny blue color. Roy was never one for the flashy and neither was his style. He’d been firing as long as I have, but sadly he didn’t have the skill. He was good but he let things get in the way. The environment was always a factor with Roy. No matter how much he tried to block it out, in the end something always seemed to get in the way. He seemed to be in the zone today but his hits were off, he was putting them too far off center.

I walked slowly over. “You’re distracted by what’s going on around you.” The words came out of my mouth before I could stop them.

I cursed my stupidity.

“I know,” he said, without noticing. He fired his next arrow, it was better but still too far out. He was reaching for another one when the ball dropped. He turned to me, confused. “I didn’t know you knew archery?”

I shrugged, thinking fast. “Jonas is….I mean was my cousin. I used to watch him shoot when we were kids.”

Roy looked at me strangely. “Funny, he never mentioned it to me.”

Damn, always digging aren’t you Roy Harper. I shrugged again. “Do you tell your friends everything?”

He shrugged. “It’s just that Jonas and I had no secrets.”

I bit my lip. If only he knew the truth. I’m not sure why I never told Roy about my medical condition. I suppose it would have made things easier but it felt weird. Roy and Mia were the only friends I had. Mia was Mia, she rolled with the punches. She and I were close, better than close, like sisters. We’d always been that way. Roy was Roy though. He was cool and fun to hang with but he was a guy. I’m not saying that made him bad or anything but he was different from Mia. When he and I were together, we did things that Mia would have hated. We went camping, fished in the lake, shot arrows at trees. We did guy stuff together. How do you explain to your guy friend that you have breasts and that you might be more girl than boy? So I lied to him, I wasn’t happy about it but it happened.

I felt horrible then and even more so now.

I opened my mouth to say something, anything. But he beat me to it.

“You want to try?” he asked, holding out the bow to me.

I shook my head. “I wouldn’t be very good at it.”

That’s the last thing I needed. As soon as I took that bow and fired an arrow, he’d know. There was no way I’d be able to hide it from him. I could try to screw up but that never worked. Back with Merlyn, I discovered pretty quickly that showing off wasn’t the answer. So I tried to suck. It was pretty hard but I managed after a while. But I don’t think I ever fooled Merlyn for a second. Every time I pretended to miss a target, he knew. I saw it in his eyes. He gave me this look and I just knew he was even more angry. I don’t Roy would give me a look but there’s no way I could take that bow from him and miss.

The other day I was screwing around. Luke and I cleared out one of the bigger boardrooms in the tower and I set up several diverse targets around the room. I tried to make them some of the most difficult shots I could think of. I’m not sure why but I needed to test myself. I didn’t even try hard when I was shooting but in the end no matter what happened; I always hit the bull’s eye. I tried changing things up, even attempted shooting with a blindfold. That one was amazing; I’m not sure how I pulled it off. But bull’s eye each time, every shot. I even tried missing a few but it didn’t matter. It was like my arm was wired to make the shot and something inside of me made it happen. It was the craziest thing in the world.

So even if I tried to miss there was just no way that I could.

Roy didn’t want to take no for an answer though. He smiled. “You’re not going to embarrass yourself. C’mon, I’ll show you how to do it.”

I shook my head. “I’ve got horrible aim, I might break something.”
He laughed. “You should have seen how many windows I broke when I was learning, BB nearly killed me.”

I laughed right along with him. “BB was never one to be angry for long.”

Roy laughed. “You got that right. One time Jonas and I…” he stopped before the story begun. I think he realized what I realized too.

Shit, I acted as if I knew who BB was when he never mentioned him to me. I bit my lip, trying to come up with a good excuse.

Roy looked a bit put out now. “Did I mention BB to you?”

I shook my head. “No, but Jonas did. He used to tell me all about the crazy crap you two used to get into.” I laughed but it forced and pathetic.

“He told you a lot about me.”

I shrugged, feeling the warning signs but ignoring them. “We were close, talked about lots of stuff.”

“Funny, he never once mentioned you.”

“Do you have cousins?”

He nodded. “Two.”

“You ever talk about them with Jonas?”

He shook his head. “But I never told them all about him either.”

Roy stepped toward me. It wasn’t threatening or menacing but it did catch me off guard. I stumbled a bit and ended up falling backwards. He reached for me, trying to grab my wrist but I ended up kicking his feet out from under him. Before I knew what was happening, we were in a heap on the floor, him on top of me. Our faces were close, too close. I could feel his hot breath on my neck. He was looking at me, at my face, at my lips. He leaned in, for what I thought was something I’d been denying but so desperately wanted. He was almost there when his eyes drifted lower. For a minute, I thought he was going to look at my chest but he stopped at my neck. He was looking right at it or rather right at something hanging from it.

I cursed, realizing my error. It was my necklace. They were a present from his father, Broken Bow. He gave one to both of us, something to do with solidifying of brotherly bond or something. Roy reached down with trembling fingers and picked up the little arrow. He turned it over gently in his hand, and then reached into his shirt to retrieve his. The arrows on our necklaces were identical but more than that, they actually connected together. He put the two of them together and let go, they didn’t break apart. As soon as he did so, his eyes widened.

“How did you?” There was a bit of confusion and then it was like a light bulb. I saw it as clear as day, the secret was out, the lie was done. The next word out of his mouth clarified it: “Jonas?”

I panicked. I threw my arms up, slamming my palms into his chest. Doing so snapped my chain, causing my necklace to break free from my neck but I didn’t care. I pushed him off me then scrambled to my feet. Hot tears rushed down my cheeks as I turned and bolted. I didn’t even bother to look back as I heard him call my name. First, I was walking fast then I ran full speed toward the door. I cried the whole way, knowing how stupid and foolhardy pursuing a friendship with him might be.

I rushed out the door. Luke was leaning against the car, reading a magazine. “Start the car now,” I yelled, pulling open the door and climbing inside.

He dropped his magazine and rushed into his seat as I slammed my door. “What happened?” he asked, doing the same.

I shook my head. “Just drive, damn it.”

He didn’t have to be told twice. Before burying my face in my hands, I caught a bewildered looking Roy in the rear-view mirror, standing in the parking lot.

Author’s note: As I’m sure all of you know, comments are life blood to an author. I’m not begging or demanding, but I certainly would appreciate anything you have to say (or ask). It doesn’t have to be long and involved, just give me your reaction to the story. Thanks in advance...EOF