Change of Color - August 26th
Twisted Shorts August Fic-a-Day Challenge - Day 26
Title: Change of Color
Author: hermione2be
Rating: PG/FR13/K+
Crossover: BtVS/Batman/DC
Disclaimer: I do not own any of BtVS/Angel or Batman/DC people, places, or ideas. This fiction is done simply for pleasure and I receive no profit.
Summary: Athena tries something different to hide herself.
Notes: Part 4 of Athena Follows Bruce
Word Count: 1880
Bruce sighed. This was a bad idea. The entire point was to learn as much as possible about the things he needed…but in a strange wistfulness, he had invited Athena to join him. He shouldn’t have. The journey he was on…it wasn’t going to be something she wanted to be part of or understood.
Yet, the day before he planned to leave, she had appeared. He never imagined that she would. The invitation had been impulsive and some part of him had known it was only issued because she was the only person besides Alfred and Lucius Fox who truly knew him before he had lost his parents. No small part of it was probably because he had always had strong feelings for her.
The problem was, she had come and he had no idea what to do with her. Did he tell her the truth? Or did he go through with what he had planned and just wait for her to get bored and leave? Or did he give this a few days and tell her she needed to go home? Maybe just talk to her?
The door opened suddenly and Athena breezed in. She was dressed in running gear, her hair was a mess in a high ponytail with everything escaping around the edges. She was not even breathing heavily but the tree across the way was barely moving. She had probably walked the last block as a cool down.
“You don’t plan to stay long, do you?” she asked as she used her elbow to close the door. She walked to the sink and got herself a tall glass of water. She assessed him. “Whatever this is all about, I sent it spinning out of your control.”
Bruce nodded. “Yes.”
She at the table across from him. “Okay. Well, you’re stuck with me. But I don’t think this is what I’m looking for.” She touched the edge of the course catalog he had presented her with that morning. “I don’t know what I’m looking for, but I don’t think it is going to be found at a university.”
“What are you going to do while I study?”
“Well, you suggested I should learn Mandarin, I thought I’d start there. But I’m also going to look into something that I should have months ago.” She took a moment to finish off her glass of water. “Not much else to do but workout, train, assuming we can both use that gym.”
Bruce nodded. “Yeah.”
She stood and headed upstairs.
He sat at the table, staring at her glass. He was on a journey of becoming someone else and she was on a journey of self-discovery. He thumped his fist against the table in irritation.
88888888
Athena thought the two weeks before university started went pretty well. She had been running every day. Bruce trained for hours in the gym and when he finished, she started. They spoke little - about anything. They existed together, locked in a strange decision they had both made. She planned to go into London the first day of classes.
The biggest problem was she feared she was likely to be recognized. London, while not Metropolis, still had people taking pictures and selling them if they showed someone that anyone thought might be minimally recognizable. She had run through most of Cambridge and had seen many hair salons.
Thud! Smack!
Bruce had started his time in the gym. She pushed off the couch and ran up the stairs, grabbing her purse and a pair of sunglasses. She jogged back down the stairs and set off for the closest salon she had seen. No one gave her more than a cursory look, but it was more crowded already.
At the small salon, Athena opened the door and found only one older woman in a salon chair.
“Hullo,” a middle-aged woman greeted. “What can we do for you?”
“I need a change,” Athena said in a thick Italian accent, running her fingers through her dark honey colored locks.
“A cut?”
“Yes and…color, lots of color.”
A younger woman popped out. “How much color?”
“Have something in mind?”
The woman grabbed her own hair and showed that under the nearly platinum blonde was neon green and bubblegum pink.
Athena found herself nodding. “Yes.”
The girl bounced towards her. “I’m Alycia.”
This was not something Athena had anticipated, but she was quick to reply. “Persephone.”
“Love it,” Alycia said brightly. “How old are you?”
“Old enough to have moved to Cambridge to join my boyfriend while he goes to uni,” she replied.
Alycia’s shock lasted until she got Athena seated and started looking at her hair. “This is a great color. Natural?”
“Yes.”
“Highlights, lowlights, auburns, browns.” Alycia looked at Athena in the mirror. “How short?”
Considering her hair was all the way to her waist, it needed a significant cut. Especially because she suspected a shower - or water to wash her hair - would not always be an option.
“To the shoulders,” Athena finally said.
Alycia stepped back, pulling all the hair back to measure it. “That will about thirty-five centimeters.”
“Okay.”
“Would you like me to cut with a band so it can go to a cancer donation?”
Athena’s eyes darted to Alycia. “Sure.”
Alycia smiled widely and grabbed a brush and a few bands. She brushed the locks straight and put a band in just below her shoulders. “It’ll start at this short.”
Athena nodded.
Alycia put another band in halfway down and then one at the end. She grabbed scissors and cut just above the first band.
88888888
Bruce rubbed his hair down, drying it as he walked down the hall to his room. He needed to talk to Athena. Things had gotten strained.
It was so much easier when we were six, he thought. Some of it was not their ages so much as his attempts not to show her the darkness that existed in him. He could not remember the last time he had acted as this Bruce Wayne persona for an extended period of time. It was starting to grate. Him, the real part of him, was about the mission.
The front door opened and closed. He assumed Athena had returned from a run. He stepped into his room and closed the door. He paused and tilted his head, listening for signs of Athena, but everything had gone quiet after the door closed. She was always so quiet. Then again, as he had been reminded, she had been physically training as long as he had known her.
He got dressed, still listening for her, but other than a beep in the kitchen, had not been able to track her movements. Bruce made his way silently downstairs. Before he could even get all the way down, Athena’s voice came from the kitchen.
“Hungry?” she asked.
He cursed silently. “How could you tell?”
Athena had her head in the fridge. “Tell what?”
“I was downstairs.”
“I heard you,” she replied.
“How?”
She closed the door and looked at him. “Super hearing,” she said, turning to face him.
His breath caught in his throat. She had her hair done. It was cut above her shoulders. The color a bright, vibrant red with dark undertones. His brain immediately tried to decide how the color would be described in a police report. “Cherry,” he finally said.
Athena raised an eyebrow. “What?”
“Memorable color.”
“But not the honey blonde to my waist that people are generally looking for.” She ran a hand through it. “Plus, easier maintenance when I’m running miles every day.” She poured herself a glass of juice.
Bruce just watched her as she returned the juice to the fridge and started drinking from her glass. Every time he thought of Athena it was as a blonde girl. Then again, she was no longer a girl. She had grown up and would soon be fifteen.
“Stop staring,” she snapped.
He blinked. “Right.”
She looked down at her juice, her hair sliding forward to hide her face from him. The move made the bright purple bottom layer of her hair visible. Bruce liked the contrast with her sun-kissed skin.
“It-” he started.
But she turned at the same time. “I’m going to use the gym.”
He was unable to get a word in as she pulled a band from her pocket and pulled her hair into a short ponytail, making both the purple and cherry-red visible. She closed the door to the gym without slamming it.
Thud! Thwack!
Bruce grimaced. He stared at the countertop. Maybe he was rubbing off on her more than he realized. She was normally happy. His teeth ground together in irritation. He needed a plan of action.
88888888
On the first day of classes, Bruce woke to find a note: B - Spending the day in London. Have a great first day.
-A
Athena had left in the early hours of the morning, reaching the platform just after five-thirty. A few people were on the platform, all of them bundled up against the cold weather. She had pulled at her beanie, making sure it covered the tips of her ears.
Once she was on the train, she took out a book and read until the announcement came for King’s Cross. The city was still artificially lit and people moved quickly away from the platform.
Athena followed the general flow, having no real direction in mind. She needed to find a bookstore at some point, see if she could get a jumpstart. She took in some of the old buildings, studying them.
“You stare at it like it holds the answers to the universe,” someone said softly.
Athena turned slightly to find a woman looking at her. She had long silver hair and a strange look about her.
“Maybe it does,” the woman continued. “But not for you.”
Athena frowned. “What?”
“Persephone, is it?” the woman continued, making Athena’s eyes widen. “Good color for the Goddess of the Dead.”
Athena’s hand went to her hat, but it still covered all her hair. “I’m sorry, I really should be going.”
“Yes, but where? When? Why?” She continued. “You should try Paddington, I think you’ll find what you’re looking for. Best to wait until you’re fifteen, though.”
Athena turned sharply around but the woman was gone. She swallowed, ice gliding along her spine. Was it the Council? She moved along the street quickly, stopping only to buy a map of London.
She turned the map this way and that some. It took her a moment to find a small little section labeled Paddington within the City of Westminster. It would take her only a few minutes to walk there.
She debated with herself before turning and walking in the opposite direction. Paddington would still be there in a few days. She pulled out a list of things she had written down to see and had given herself a schedule to see them. Which meant Paddington was meant for the end of the week. After her birthday.
Athena clench her teeth. Maybe she would just not come back to London for a couple of weeks. She’d go explore the beach a couple hours from Cambridge instead. But today she had other things to do.
Title: Change of Color
Author: hermione2be
Rating: PG/FR13/K+
Crossover: BtVS/Batman/DC
Disclaimer: I do not own any of BtVS/Angel or Batman/DC people, places, or ideas. This fiction is done simply for pleasure and I receive no profit.
Summary: Athena tries something different to hide herself.
Notes: Part 4 of Athena Follows Bruce
Word Count: 1880
Bruce sighed. This was a bad idea. The entire point was to learn as much as possible about the things he needed…but in a strange wistfulness, he had invited Athena to join him. He shouldn’t have. The journey he was on…it wasn’t going to be something she wanted to be part of or understood.
Yet, the day before he planned to leave, she had appeared. He never imagined that she would. The invitation had been impulsive and some part of him had known it was only issued because she was the only person besides Alfred and Lucius Fox who truly knew him before he had lost his parents. No small part of it was probably because he had always had strong feelings for her.
The problem was, she had come and he had no idea what to do with her. Did he tell her the truth? Or did he go through with what he had planned and just wait for her to get bored and leave? Or did he give this a few days and tell her she needed to go home? Maybe just talk to her?
The door opened suddenly and Athena breezed in. She was dressed in running gear, her hair was a mess in a high ponytail with everything escaping around the edges. She was not even breathing heavily but the tree across the way was barely moving. She had probably walked the last block as a cool down.
“You don’t plan to stay long, do you?” she asked as she used her elbow to close the door. She walked to the sink and got herself a tall glass of water. She assessed him. “Whatever this is all about, I sent it spinning out of your control.”
Bruce nodded. “Yes.”
She at the table across from him. “Okay. Well, you’re stuck with me. But I don’t think this is what I’m looking for.” She touched the edge of the course catalog he had presented her with that morning. “I don’t know what I’m looking for, but I don’t think it is going to be found at a university.”
“What are you going to do while I study?”
“Well, you suggested I should learn Mandarin, I thought I’d start there. But I’m also going to look into something that I should have months ago.” She took a moment to finish off her glass of water. “Not much else to do but workout, train, assuming we can both use that gym.”
Bruce nodded. “Yeah.”
She stood and headed upstairs.
He sat at the table, staring at her glass. He was on a journey of becoming someone else and she was on a journey of self-discovery. He thumped his fist against the table in irritation.
88888888
Athena thought the two weeks before university started went pretty well. She had been running every day. Bruce trained for hours in the gym and when he finished, she started. They spoke little - about anything. They existed together, locked in a strange decision they had both made. She planned to go into London the first day of classes.
The biggest problem was she feared she was likely to be recognized. London, while not Metropolis, still had people taking pictures and selling them if they showed someone that anyone thought might be minimally recognizable. She had run through most of Cambridge and had seen many hair salons.
Thud! Smack!
Bruce had started his time in the gym. She pushed off the couch and ran up the stairs, grabbing her purse and a pair of sunglasses. She jogged back down the stairs and set off for the closest salon she had seen. No one gave her more than a cursory look, but it was more crowded already.
At the small salon, Athena opened the door and found only one older woman in a salon chair.
“Hullo,” a middle-aged woman greeted. “What can we do for you?”
“I need a change,” Athena said in a thick Italian accent, running her fingers through her dark honey colored locks.
“A cut?”
“Yes and…color, lots of color.”
A younger woman popped out. “How much color?”
“Have something in mind?”
The woman grabbed her own hair and showed that under the nearly platinum blonde was neon green and bubblegum pink.
Athena found herself nodding. “Yes.”
The girl bounced towards her. “I’m Alycia.”
This was not something Athena had anticipated, but she was quick to reply. “Persephone.”
“Love it,” Alycia said brightly. “How old are you?”
“Old enough to have moved to Cambridge to join my boyfriend while he goes to uni,” she replied.
Alycia’s shock lasted until she got Athena seated and started looking at her hair. “This is a great color. Natural?”
“Yes.”
“Highlights, lowlights, auburns, browns.” Alycia looked at Athena in the mirror. “How short?”
Considering her hair was all the way to her waist, it needed a significant cut. Especially because she suspected a shower - or water to wash her hair - would not always be an option.
“To the shoulders,” Athena finally said.
Alycia stepped back, pulling all the hair back to measure it. “That will about thirty-five centimeters.”
“Okay.”
“Would you like me to cut with a band so it can go to a cancer donation?”
Athena’s eyes darted to Alycia. “Sure.”
Alycia smiled widely and grabbed a brush and a few bands. She brushed the locks straight and put a band in just below her shoulders. “It’ll start at this short.”
Athena nodded.
Alycia put another band in halfway down and then one at the end. She grabbed scissors and cut just above the first band.
88888888
Bruce rubbed his hair down, drying it as he walked down the hall to his room. He needed to talk to Athena. Things had gotten strained.
It was so much easier when we were six, he thought. Some of it was not their ages so much as his attempts not to show her the darkness that existed in him. He could not remember the last time he had acted as this Bruce Wayne persona for an extended period of time. It was starting to grate. Him, the real part of him, was about the mission.
The front door opened and closed. He assumed Athena had returned from a run. He stepped into his room and closed the door. He paused and tilted his head, listening for signs of Athena, but everything had gone quiet after the door closed. She was always so quiet. Then again, as he had been reminded, she had been physically training as long as he had known her.
He got dressed, still listening for her, but other than a beep in the kitchen, had not been able to track her movements. Bruce made his way silently downstairs. Before he could even get all the way down, Athena’s voice came from the kitchen.
“Hungry?” she asked.
He cursed silently. “How could you tell?”
Athena had her head in the fridge. “Tell what?”
“I was downstairs.”
“I heard you,” she replied.
“How?”
She closed the door and looked at him. “Super hearing,” she said, turning to face him.
His breath caught in his throat. She had her hair done. It was cut above her shoulders. The color a bright, vibrant red with dark undertones. His brain immediately tried to decide how the color would be described in a police report. “Cherry,” he finally said.
Athena raised an eyebrow. “What?”
“Memorable color.”
“But not the honey blonde to my waist that people are generally looking for.” She ran a hand through it. “Plus, easier maintenance when I’m running miles every day.” She poured herself a glass of juice.
Bruce just watched her as she returned the juice to the fridge and started drinking from her glass. Every time he thought of Athena it was as a blonde girl. Then again, she was no longer a girl. She had grown up and would soon be fifteen.
“Stop staring,” she snapped.
He blinked. “Right.”
She looked down at her juice, her hair sliding forward to hide her face from him. The move made the bright purple bottom layer of her hair visible. Bruce liked the contrast with her sun-kissed skin.
“It-” he started.
But she turned at the same time. “I’m going to use the gym.”
He was unable to get a word in as she pulled a band from her pocket and pulled her hair into a short ponytail, making both the purple and cherry-red visible. She closed the door to the gym without slamming it.
Thud! Thwack!
Bruce grimaced. He stared at the countertop. Maybe he was rubbing off on her more than he realized. She was normally happy. His teeth ground together in irritation. He needed a plan of action.
88888888
On the first day of classes, Bruce woke to find a note: B - Spending the day in London. Have a great first day.
-A
Athena had left in the early hours of the morning, reaching the platform just after five-thirty. A few people were on the platform, all of them bundled up against the cold weather. She had pulled at her beanie, making sure it covered the tips of her ears.
Once she was on the train, she took out a book and read until the announcement came for King’s Cross. The city was still artificially lit and people moved quickly away from the platform.
Athena followed the general flow, having no real direction in mind. She needed to find a bookstore at some point, see if she could get a jumpstart. She took in some of the old buildings, studying them.
“You stare at it like it holds the answers to the universe,” someone said softly.
Athena turned slightly to find a woman looking at her. She had long silver hair and a strange look about her.
“Maybe it does,” the woman continued. “But not for you.”
Athena frowned. “What?”
“Persephone, is it?” the woman continued, making Athena’s eyes widen. “Good color for the Goddess of the Dead.”
Athena’s hand went to her hat, but it still covered all her hair. “I’m sorry, I really should be going.”
“Yes, but where? When? Why?” She continued. “You should try Paddington, I think you’ll find what you’re looking for. Best to wait until you’re fifteen, though.”
Athena turned sharply around but the woman was gone. She swallowed, ice gliding along her spine. Was it the Council? She moved along the street quickly, stopping only to buy a map of London.
She turned the map this way and that some. It took her a moment to find a small little section labeled Paddington within the City of Westminster. It would take her only a few minutes to walk there.
She debated with herself before turning and walking in the opposite direction. Paddington would still be there in a few days. She pulled out a list of things she had written down to see and had given herself a schedule to see them. Which meant Paddington was meant for the end of the week. After her birthday.
Athena clench her teeth. Maybe she would just not come back to London for a couple of weeks. She’d go explore the beach a couple hours from Cambridge instead. But today she had other things to do.