Sell you a Bridge chapter 7 (Patreon)

The Narrows were pretty awful, obviously. People call Gotham a sewer  and a living hell but the Narrows is one of the few places where I could  see what they meant. The Narrows wasn't...a normal neighborhood. It  reminded me of those castles kids made in preschool out of the different  colored cardboard bricks. Except instead of bricks the place was made  of buildings. Whenever something burned partway down or rotted away they  just tore out the broken layer and added a new one. Floor's made of  brick sat on top of cinder block levels with wooden shingled levels on  top of those.

It  looked like someone had chopped up a bunch of buildings and pasted them  back together all mixed up, except even worse because the upper layers  were fixed on with wooden beams and held up with the construction  equivalent of spit and glue. The only reason the Narrows even stayed  together were that buildings were packed in so tight that the slapdash  architects were able to stick beams between them so they could hold each  other up. The streets were so tight two people could barely walk with  their arms outstretched between buildings, which was where the name came  from.

I  expected to be hassled or menaced as we slipped down the street towards  the shop Artemis was taking me to, but surprisingly no one in the  Narrows bothered with anyone else. From the way people talked about this  place it had sounded like you could get knifed in the kidney if you  blinked too long, but mostly people were just in a hurry. Artemis saw my  look and smirked leaning in to speak into my ear so I could hear her  over the very packed street. "I know what you're thinking, it's not as  bad as you expected right?" She waited for my nod and laughed "This is  main, there are places around the edges of the Narrows where even  hardened criminals won't go."

That  did make sense, there was bound to be some more hospitable parts of  this place and Artemis knew it well enough to bring me here to shop. I  leaned in the same way she had, speaking normally since she wouldn't  hear a whisper and a yell would have attracted attention. "So how do you  know this place so well anyway? Is this where you got your bow?"  Artemis tended to avoid talking about herself when possible, but she  knew enough about me that I felt justified asking some easy non invasive  questions. I figured just asking about her weapon was safe enough.

She  actually flinched slightly when I said it, giving me a long struggling  look, like she was deciding what to say before she nodded to herself,  seeming to make up her mind. "My dad brought me. He took my sister on  her thirteenth birthday and then came back with me on mine. My mom came  with us too. That was...before. I've been back a few times since. Mostly  on my own." She stopped, looking conflicted but eventually continued  "My dad is....not a nice guy. Which I'm sure you figured out from the  constant air of barely restrained violence that hangs around him. He's  very...demanding."

It  explained plenty of things about her skills, she didn't say criminal,  but considering where we were I'd have to be a moron not to assume.  Since she shared with me though I decided to share with her. She knew  about my powers anyway. I leaned in a bit closer than before so I could  lower my voice enough no one would overhear by accident. "My dad is  Mario Falcone." Her head jerked back, her eyes widening with shock. I  just nodded, returning to a more normal tone of voice, and shot her a  wry smile. "So I know a bit about not so nice fathers. Not as much as  you obviously, mine didn't stick around. But I kind of feel you there."

The  stare she gave me was halfway between outrage and hope, with a bit of  relief thrown in. I understood. I'd spent so much of my life not  mentioning anything about him to anyone that getting it off my chest was  a huge relief. I felt like a weight I'd never known was there had been  lifted off of me. She bit her lip, exhaling sharply while still looking  forward towards our destination. When she leaned in this time she kept  her voice as low as mine had been and spoke a single word.  "Sportsmaster." My eyebrows went up but she didn't say more, clearly  having had trouble even revealing that.

I  could respect the strength it took to admit that. In a lot of ways she  would be much more of a target than I was. The Falcone's had been in  Gotham as long as the Wayne's they had roots here. If someone found out  who I was and killed him dad would murder everyone he knew. Hell he  would have to, you don't spill Falcone blood and get away with it.  Artemis didn't have that. Sportsmaster might get offended and come after  whoever killed her but he was just one guy. Being outed as his daughter  was more likely to cause her murder than prevent it.

Finally  we made it to one particularly unstable looking building. Each  successive floor seemed to be wider than the one beneath it, creating a  sort of inverted steppe pyramid though not quite as drastic a difference  in the floor sizes. The door on the bottom was plate steel and was set  into a wall made of thick heavy stone, like a castle or something. No  wonder the lower levels didn't collapse with a foundation like that.  Artemis, seeming glad to be done talking and obviously having confided  in me enough for today started banging on the door in an odd rhythm.  Three quick taps, two slow, four fast, five with a beat in between.

After  the knock she waited in silence, not looking at me or speaking at all, I  was about to ask what we were supposed to do when I heard a metallic  groan and a loud clank from the other side of the door. The steel slab  swung slowly open noiselessly to reveal a massive bear of a man. The man  in the doorway had long flowing red hair and a huge bushy red beard  speckled with the occasional burnt hair or bit of soot. It would have  made most people look crazy or homeless but it just made him  look...fiery.

He  spotted Artemis and a big smile full of bright white teeth split his  bearded face. "Well if it isn't my favorite little goddess of the hunt!"  His voice was accented with a light but melodic Scottish brogue. "Did  you outgrow your new bow already? You seem taller but I can hardly  believe you grew that fast!" He flicked an appraising eye over me "Or  perhaps you're here to buy some armor for your new boy toy?" His  derisive tone made it clear I had come up lacking, clearly having  decided I looked soft or weak. I wanted to protest but honestly compared  to someone like Artemis he had kind of a point.

Hopefully  not for much longer of course, Artemis was my only and therefore best  friend. I didn't want her to have to deal with her criminal asshat dad  on her own. Getting stronger to help take some of the pressure off her  was my new motivation. She'd already been there for me more than anyone  else besides my mom ever had. I was going to repay her ten fold for that  loyalty. Which started with making the most of the few abilities I had  or was going to have. I needed a sword and a set of shuriken, the best  money could buy. I was a better shot than even Artemis was and that was  just the beginning of my abilities.

The  loyalty I felt for my friend was cemented even further when she stuck  up for me to this behemoth "He's cool Teague. He's a friend. We were  hoping to take a look at your special catalog. Not the top tier stuff of  course, but some of the more high end merchandise." Her tone was  businesslike and calm but she was very obviously making a point of movie  the conversation past the issue of my...what? Qualifications? First  impression? Whatever it was, Artemis said I was cool so I was cool  apparently. Teague let out a booming bark of laughter and stepped back  to let us in.

He  slapped my back as I walked past, very nearly sending me sprawling  "Sorry about that lad. Artemis is a smart girl but that da of hers is  always nattering on with his nonsense, I live in fear that he'll fill  her head with his stupidity and she'll get mixed up with more of his  sort. If she says you're good people though that's enough for me."  Artemis's grin was wider than I'd ever seen it, clearly she didn't get  to hear people talk shit about her dad very often, but the blacksmith  clearly had no compunctions about doing just that. I got the feeling  Teague was the kind of person with whom wise men did not fuck.

He  brought us into a stone room with red rugs across the floor in aisles.  The walls were lined with glass fronted store counters and there were  lanterns hanging from hooks spreading a dim luminescence across the  displays. The low lighting caught the metal just the right way and it  made the whole room sparkle like a treasure box. Teague saw my wide eyes  as I took in the room and gave another laugh and a second crushing slap  on the back. " A discerning eye I see. Aye boy, this is the finest  collection of steel and more...exotic things in all of Gotham." He  grinned and walked behind the counter, taking out a few boxes and  setting them on the glass top.

The  boxes were dark, polished wood and as he set them down he opened them,  revealing gleaming weapons on beds of soft velvet. He gestured to a few  pieces, knives and knuckles and various other hand held weapons. "These  are the high end products like you asked. I kept the truly staggering  pieces tucked away, you couldn't afford them in any case." He noticed my  frown at that and laughed "Don't believe me? I'm one of the few  blacksmith's on the planet that can properly work depleted Prometheum. A  single throwing knife the length of your hand made of that stuff goes  up to eight figures."

I  was floored. I thought a million dollars was a lot of money but clearly  I was swimming in a completely different pool now. I searched through  the boxes and pointed out a box with about ten shuriken fanned out on a  bed of blue velvet. "What about those?" They were oddly shimmery, like  they were made of quicksilver, but they were still solid. They had  caught my attention even over all the other beautiful weapons not only  because they were some of the only throwing stars on display but because  of their reflective sheen.

Teague  nodded approvingly. "Good taste, those are made of an alloy of  durasteel and palladium. They're light as a feather and deadly sharp. It  isn't going to put a nick on some of the more durable metas but it'll  shear through a foot of plate steel without much trouble and holds and  edge damn near forever. Normally they would be among my pricier products  but for Artemis I'll let them go for ten thousand a piece." I tried not  to wince at spending a hundred grand on a small box of sharp metal  things I was going to throw at people but I must have shown my  hesitation.

Contrary  to my assumptions Teague wasn't offended by my hesitance to spend so  much. If anything he seemed delighted. "Ah, I see you aren't convinced  lad. Fair enough it is a pretty penny to spend on such compact goods,  especially for the uninitated. So tell you what. Why not try them out  first, see if you like them?" I must have appeared confused by that  because he roared with laughter and gestured to a door set off to the  side. "We have a target range in the back. You can see how they feel in  your hand." His smile was challenging as he raised a bushy red eyebrow.   "So how about it boy? Want to show me what you've got?"