The rest of the crossover...
They had been in the police station, waiting for Lily, for two full hours.
“Hey!” Sarah had gotten to her feet after reading her comics studiously. “I know you.” She ignored Andy’s hissing and gesturing and moved dangerously close to the officer’s work space. “You’re her!” she shouted.
“Young lady, keep your voice down.” The officer glared at Andy and then at the kid.
But Sarah wouldn’t let it go. She took out her favorite comic, after rifling to find it in the pile beneath her arm. Andy groaned loudly when Sarah opened the comic to a picture of Bat Woman and shoved it up to the officer’s face.
What followed should have led to Andy’s arrest. The officer shouted at Sarah, which led to the girl bursting into tears. Andy did the less than responsible thing and shouted back at the officer for being rude to a child. The officer took out her cuffs and stepped into the room.
Then Sarah stepped between the two adults. She handed the officer the comic again. “You can have this, if you need it to remember.” She muttered. “I mean if you don’t remember, maybe there’s a good reason. But you’re obviously some kind of Super Hero, I just don’t know which one. You’ll have to decide for yourself.”
The woman froze. Something flashed behind her eyes and she knelt in front of Sarah. A crooked smile played on her lips. “all right kiddo.” She sighed. “But I have this one. You can keep it. I‘ll read it later at home, ok?” She exchanged a funny sort of look with Andy and immediately went behind her desk again to finish the paperwork.
It all went much more quickly then, and soon Andy found herself ushering Lily into the car.
Lily didn‘t even have a second to explain. “Shi….oooot!” Andy sort of cursed, when the SUV roared into the parking lot. “We have to go Lils.”
The chase, back on, had all of the car’s passengers strapped in as tightly as Andy demanded. They made their way to Lily’s apartment first, and Andy instructed her to go upstairs and lock herself in.
Then they made their way to the one place where Andy knew they would be safe.
The safe room at the townhouse was equipped with enough supplies to last a year. It also had separate rooms with beds away from the generators so that the girls could get some sleep. By the time Andy’s stunt driving had them back at the townhouse, it was 12am and she had seriously shirked her babysitter duties.
“That was awesome.” Caroline shouted as they peeled into the garage.
“yeah, sure, cool, awesome.” Andy agreed frantically. She could see the SUV round the corner and practically threw the kids into the safe room. Her last clear sight of the SUV was of it nearly ramming into the garage door, just as the safe room doors closed tightly.
Andy got the girls settled for bed, watching the television monitors carefully.
It was then that she realized what lengths the men would go to, to get their hands on the damned Playboy.
One masked man emerged from the SUV with a can of gasoline while the other gestured to the camera at the front gate. They were being awfully theatrical, but Andy supposed they just wanted to lure her out.
“Shit.” This time Andy swore. Cassidy sat up and looked her square in the eye.
It was one of those moments when Andy had no time to contemplate what she had to do, and even less time to contemplate the consequences of her actions. Still, she gave herself a second to think about what might happen if they didn’t make it through this. She could have called the police, but doing so would indicate that she had let the situation get out of hand. Besides, by the time they arrived, the townhouse--including the family dog Patricia--would be torched.
“girls…” Andy mumbled.
“No way.” Caroline shouted at her from the twin bed she was bunked in. “No way, goddamit!”
“girls, I can’t let anything happen…” Andy tried another tact. She couldn’t remind them about the dog and she wasn’t about to let them look at the monitors to see the gas cans being waved around. “I have to take care of this. This is what your Mother trained me for. Well, sort of.” She felt a rush of affection for the girls. Even for the youngest who she had just met. “I’ll be right back.” she said calmly.
When Andy emerged from the safe room, a young masked man was waiting for her.
“What do you want?” Andy asked him. She saw the gun, but he hadn’t drawn it yet, and he’d let the panic room doors close again without interference.
“Just the Playboy.” His voice was gentle. Too gentle for a masked criminal.
Andy handed it to him and he flipped it open to the bets. Suddenly, his eyes were intent on Andy’s.
“This may be air brushed to fuck,” He said, “But it looks kinda like…”
“it’s not.” Andy replied haughtily. She crossed her arms over her chest for emphasis. “Can you guys go now?”
He paused, looking back at the idling SUV. The larger man was still next to it, heaving with an intensity born of more than just road rage.
“yeah, you’re right,” he added, nodding at Andy. “You’re much prettier. She doesn’t even compare to you.” And with a wink, he gestured to the larger man and moved to join him.
Andy was calm as anything, standing out on the street, watching as the SUV roared away. She reached for her phone and texted Lily. A return text confirmed that Lily was fine. She promised Andy dinner later that week, and promised also to kick Nate’s ass the next time they saw him.
Andy didn’t find it funny though. Her shoulders slumped suddenly. It was nearly 1am, and Miranda was due home thirty minutes ago. While she was glad that they had dodged the bullet, she was suddenly bummed that Miranda’s date was going so obviously well.
She opened the panic room door, punching in the code quickly, and moved inside to talk to the girls.
They made their way inside, where Andy ordered them upstairs before giving each one a fierce hug.
“Andy,” Caroline whispered from the darkness after the light had been turned off. “we’d like to see more of you, if that’s ok.”
“Yeah.” Cassidy agreed in the same loud whisper.
“Me to…” Sarah said, after a pause. “I mean I don’t live here. Maybe I could visit again.”
Andy felt tears prickle her eyelids. She nodded and then cleared her throat. “yeah guys. For sure, we’ll see more of each other, ok?”
She settled onto the couch in the downstairs den again and flicked on the long forgotten television set.
It was 2:45am when Miranda finally walked through the front door. By this point, Andy was fighting tears.
“What on earth is the matter with you?” Miranda asked, rather loudly given that there were sleeping children on the floors above them. She removed her coat and flung it in Andy’s general direction.
“Good date?” Andy’s voice dripped with sarcasm.
“No.” Miranda hissed. “As a matter of fact, it was not a good…why am I telling you this?” She glared at the younger woman and straightened her shoulders. A mean spirited grin lit her features. “So? How did it all go?” She obviously knew something about their evening.
Andy rounded on her. “I don’t know. You tell me. How much of that did you fucking arrange?”
“I beg your…”
“No!” Andy fought the urge to shout. “I beg…I mean…whatever!” She huffed and paced, watching Miranda’s stupid smirk reappear. “I put it all together when those assholes followed us home. What was that? Part of my training?”
Miranda was quiet.
“Oh, I get it.” Andy grinned. “You saw.” she crossed her arms and then uncrossed them when Miranda’s eyes glanced at her cleavage. “My little side gig…”
Now Miranda was angry. She nodded tersely. She seemed embarrassed all of a sudden.
“so you decided to punish me.” Andy whispered.
“You sell yourself short. You sold yourself particularly short on that…gig, as you call it.” Miranda fumed, but moved closer to Andy.
“Did Lily call you first?” Andy asked quietly. Miranda was close. Too close. The older woman nodded. “You told her to call me. To have me pick her up.” Miranda suddenly found a thread on her blouse to be terribly interesting. “You had those guys doctor my picture. Made it look like a bunch of horse bets…who the fuck bets on horses anymore? That’s so old timey.” She laughed meanly but instantly regretted it when Miranda’s face fell. “Was he good?” She whispered. Might as well dig the hole as deeply as possible now that she had fucked everything up.
“who?” Miranda was utterly confused.
“Him.” Andy hissed. “That idiot I’ve watched you walk out the door with…night after night…was he good? Did you fuck in the back of the limo?”
Now Miranda looked devastated. Her eyes were grey and heartbroken.
She muttered something. Andy couldn’t quite hear it. So Miranda repeated it, louder.
“Oh god.” Andy gasped. “You’ve been lying…he’s been…fake, all this time? Why? To what end? Goddammit…” She was flailing now. “do you know what I do for you? What I would do for you? And for your kids? Even your niece, I mean all of them. I would throw myself in front of a firing squad for all of you! I nearly did!…And you…you…you play games.”
“You sell yourself short.” Miranda repeated her earlier sentiment. “With Nate. Stupid boy. And nude photographs…What were you thinking?”
“I had to pay rent.” Andy croaked. “I didn‘t have enough to make rent. Do you know how ashamed I was? I can‘t make rent, how can I compete for…for you…” She took a deep and shaky breath. “I’ll never be good enough for you. No matter how many stunts I pull. I drove on a sidewalk tonite. I risked my life for your home, your children, even that damned dog. That dog hates me. I risked my life for a gigantic dog who hates me.”
“Patricia doesn’t hate you.” Miranda smiled. “She’s a dog. She doesn’t hate people, she just doesn’t respect you.”
Andy’s mouth fell open again. She was about to protest when Miranda stepped very very close to her.
“You sell yourself…” Miranda muttered, an inch from Andy’s mouth.
“Short, yes, I know.” Andy gasped. “I won’t do it again.”
“See that you do not.” Miranda glowered. “I was alerted by Hugh himself, before the photograph was fully edited. I had to do some negotiating to have that photograph airbrushed, such that no one would fully match you with it.” Her hand reached out and clasped Andy’s gently. “No one is to see you naked, before a camera, like that ever again.” Her words were bullets.
Andy nodded weakly. Behind her, the televised late late late night movie played its closing score. “I always loved this song.” She whispered. Miranda was all fire and passion, staring right at her.
“And then he kissed her.” Miranda said snidely. “It will not do.”
“And then she kissed her?” Andy asked meekly.
“Yes. That. Now.” And Miranda’s lips crushed Andy’s. “I’m taking the babysitter home.” She muttered, moving her lips hotly down across Andy’s neck. She chuckled, an evil sound.
“Bad joke.” Andy gasped. “Inappropriate. Besides, I’m more like the body guard.”
Miranda nodded against Andy’s sternum. Their lips met again and they kissed. Gentler, for a long time. The song made its crescendo when the supposedly sleeping children made their way to the top of the winding staircase and looked down.
“Awesome.” The twins whispered in unison.
“About time.” Sarah added. “Marvel meets DC.”
The twins exchanged confused glances and shrugged before they all decided to give the weirdo adults downstairs some privacy.
“Hey!” Sarah had gotten to her feet after reading her comics studiously. “I know you.” She ignored Andy’s hissing and gesturing and moved dangerously close to the officer’s work space. “You’re her!” she shouted.
“Young lady, keep your voice down.” The officer glared at Andy and then at the kid.
But Sarah wouldn’t let it go. She took out her favorite comic, after rifling to find it in the pile beneath her arm. Andy groaned loudly when Sarah opened the comic to a picture of Bat Woman and shoved it up to the officer’s face.
What followed should have led to Andy’s arrest. The officer shouted at Sarah, which led to the girl bursting into tears. Andy did the less than responsible thing and shouted back at the officer for being rude to a child. The officer took out her cuffs and stepped into the room.
Then Sarah stepped between the two adults. She handed the officer the comic again. “You can have this, if you need it to remember.” She muttered. “I mean if you don’t remember, maybe there’s a good reason. But you’re obviously some kind of Super Hero, I just don’t know which one. You’ll have to decide for yourself.”
The woman froze. Something flashed behind her eyes and she knelt in front of Sarah. A crooked smile played on her lips. “all right kiddo.” She sighed. “But I have this one. You can keep it. I‘ll read it later at home, ok?” She exchanged a funny sort of look with Andy and immediately went behind her desk again to finish the paperwork.
It all went much more quickly then, and soon Andy found herself ushering Lily into the car.
Lily didn‘t even have a second to explain. “Shi….oooot!” Andy sort of cursed, when the SUV roared into the parking lot. “We have to go Lils.”
The chase, back on, had all of the car’s passengers strapped in as tightly as Andy demanded. They made their way to Lily’s apartment first, and Andy instructed her to go upstairs and lock herself in.
Then they made their way to the one place where Andy knew they would be safe.
The safe room at the townhouse was equipped with enough supplies to last a year. It also had separate rooms with beds away from the generators so that the girls could get some sleep. By the time Andy’s stunt driving had them back at the townhouse, it was 12am and she had seriously shirked her babysitter duties.
“That was awesome.” Caroline shouted as they peeled into the garage.
“yeah, sure, cool, awesome.” Andy agreed frantically. She could see the SUV round the corner and practically threw the kids into the safe room. Her last clear sight of the SUV was of it nearly ramming into the garage door, just as the safe room doors closed tightly.
Andy got the girls settled for bed, watching the television monitors carefully.
It was then that she realized what lengths the men would go to, to get their hands on the damned Playboy.
One masked man emerged from the SUV with a can of gasoline while the other gestured to the camera at the front gate. They were being awfully theatrical, but Andy supposed they just wanted to lure her out.
“Shit.” This time Andy swore. Cassidy sat up and looked her square in the eye.
It was one of those moments when Andy had no time to contemplate what she had to do, and even less time to contemplate the consequences of her actions. Still, she gave herself a second to think about what might happen if they didn’t make it through this. She could have called the police, but doing so would indicate that she had let the situation get out of hand. Besides, by the time they arrived, the townhouse--including the family dog Patricia--would be torched.
“girls…” Andy mumbled.
“No way.” Caroline shouted at her from the twin bed she was bunked in. “No way, goddamit!”
“girls, I can’t let anything happen…” Andy tried another tact. She couldn’t remind them about the dog and she wasn’t about to let them look at the monitors to see the gas cans being waved around. “I have to take care of this. This is what your Mother trained me for. Well, sort of.” She felt a rush of affection for the girls. Even for the youngest who she had just met. “I’ll be right back.” she said calmly.
When Andy emerged from the safe room, a young masked man was waiting for her.
“What do you want?” Andy asked him. She saw the gun, but he hadn’t drawn it yet, and he’d let the panic room doors close again without interference.
“Just the Playboy.” His voice was gentle. Too gentle for a masked criminal.
Andy handed it to him and he flipped it open to the bets. Suddenly, his eyes were intent on Andy’s.
“This may be air brushed to fuck,” He said, “But it looks kinda like…”
“it’s not.” Andy replied haughtily. She crossed her arms over her chest for emphasis. “Can you guys go now?”
He paused, looking back at the idling SUV. The larger man was still next to it, heaving with an intensity born of more than just road rage.
“yeah, you’re right,” he added, nodding at Andy. “You’re much prettier. She doesn’t even compare to you.” And with a wink, he gestured to the larger man and moved to join him.
Andy was calm as anything, standing out on the street, watching as the SUV roared away. She reached for her phone and texted Lily. A return text confirmed that Lily was fine. She promised Andy dinner later that week, and promised also to kick Nate’s ass the next time they saw him.
Andy didn’t find it funny though. Her shoulders slumped suddenly. It was nearly 1am, and Miranda was due home thirty minutes ago. While she was glad that they had dodged the bullet, she was suddenly bummed that Miranda’s date was going so obviously well.
She opened the panic room door, punching in the code quickly, and moved inside to talk to the girls.
They made their way inside, where Andy ordered them upstairs before giving each one a fierce hug.
“Andy,” Caroline whispered from the darkness after the light had been turned off. “we’d like to see more of you, if that’s ok.”
“Yeah.” Cassidy agreed in the same loud whisper.
“Me to…” Sarah said, after a pause. “I mean I don’t live here. Maybe I could visit again.”
Andy felt tears prickle her eyelids. She nodded and then cleared her throat. “yeah guys. For sure, we’ll see more of each other, ok?”
She settled onto the couch in the downstairs den again and flicked on the long forgotten television set.
It was 2:45am when Miranda finally walked through the front door. By this point, Andy was fighting tears.
“What on earth is the matter with you?” Miranda asked, rather loudly given that there were sleeping children on the floors above them. She removed her coat and flung it in Andy’s general direction.
“Good date?” Andy’s voice dripped with sarcasm.
“No.” Miranda hissed. “As a matter of fact, it was not a good…why am I telling you this?” She glared at the younger woman and straightened her shoulders. A mean spirited grin lit her features. “So? How did it all go?” She obviously knew something about their evening.
Andy rounded on her. “I don’t know. You tell me. How much of that did you fucking arrange?”
“I beg your…”
“No!” Andy fought the urge to shout. “I beg…I mean…whatever!” She huffed and paced, watching Miranda’s stupid smirk reappear. “I put it all together when those assholes followed us home. What was that? Part of my training?”
Miranda was quiet.
“Oh, I get it.” Andy grinned. “You saw.” she crossed her arms and then uncrossed them when Miranda’s eyes glanced at her cleavage. “My little side gig…”
Now Miranda was angry. She nodded tersely. She seemed embarrassed all of a sudden.
“so you decided to punish me.” Andy whispered.
“You sell yourself short. You sold yourself particularly short on that…gig, as you call it.” Miranda fumed, but moved closer to Andy.
“Did Lily call you first?” Andy asked quietly. Miranda was close. Too close. The older woman nodded. “You told her to call me. To have me pick her up.” Miranda suddenly found a thread on her blouse to be terribly interesting. “You had those guys doctor my picture. Made it look like a bunch of horse bets…who the fuck bets on horses anymore? That’s so old timey.” She laughed meanly but instantly regretted it when Miranda’s face fell. “Was he good?” She whispered. Might as well dig the hole as deeply as possible now that she had fucked everything up.
“who?” Miranda was utterly confused.
“Him.” Andy hissed. “That idiot I’ve watched you walk out the door with…night after night…was he good? Did you fuck in the back of the limo?”
Now Miranda looked devastated. Her eyes were grey and heartbroken.
She muttered something. Andy couldn’t quite hear it. So Miranda repeated it, louder.
“Oh god.” Andy gasped. “You’ve been lying…he’s been…fake, all this time? Why? To what end? Goddammit…” She was flailing now. “do you know what I do for you? What I would do for you? And for your kids? Even your niece, I mean all of them. I would throw myself in front of a firing squad for all of you! I nearly did!…And you…you…you play games.”
“You sell yourself short.” Miranda repeated her earlier sentiment. “With Nate. Stupid boy. And nude photographs…What were you thinking?”
“I had to pay rent.” Andy croaked. “I didn‘t have enough to make rent. Do you know how ashamed I was? I can‘t make rent, how can I compete for…for you…” She took a deep and shaky breath. “I’ll never be good enough for you. No matter how many stunts I pull. I drove on a sidewalk tonite. I risked my life for your home, your children, even that damned dog. That dog hates me. I risked my life for a gigantic dog who hates me.”
“Patricia doesn’t hate you.” Miranda smiled. “She’s a dog. She doesn’t hate people, she just doesn’t respect you.”
Andy’s mouth fell open again. She was about to protest when Miranda stepped very very close to her.
“You sell yourself…” Miranda muttered, an inch from Andy’s mouth.
“Short, yes, I know.” Andy gasped. “I won’t do it again.”
“See that you do not.” Miranda glowered. “I was alerted by Hugh himself, before the photograph was fully edited. I had to do some negotiating to have that photograph airbrushed, such that no one would fully match you with it.” Her hand reached out and clasped Andy’s gently. “No one is to see you naked, before a camera, like that ever again.” Her words were bullets.
Andy nodded weakly. Behind her, the televised late late late night movie played its closing score. “I always loved this song.” She whispered. Miranda was all fire and passion, staring right at her.
“And then he kissed her.” Miranda said snidely. “It will not do.”
“And then she kissed her?” Andy asked meekly.
“Yes. That. Now.” And Miranda’s lips crushed Andy’s. “I’m taking the babysitter home.” She muttered, moving her lips hotly down across Andy’s neck. She chuckled, an evil sound.
“Bad joke.” Andy gasped. “Inappropriate. Besides, I’m more like the body guard.”
Miranda nodded against Andy’s sternum. Their lips met again and they kissed. Gentler, for a long time. The song made its crescendo when the supposedly sleeping children made their way to the top of the winding staircase and looked down.
“Awesome.” The twins whispered in unison.
“About time.” Sarah added. “Marvel meets DC.”
The twins exchanged confused glances and shrugged before they all decided to give the weirdo adults downstairs some privacy.