Alexander’s birthday party gala happened on a Friday, and so Althea had the subsequent weekend to rest, recover, and rejuvenate. It was Sunday night and as much as she told herself, she was not prepared to walk into school tomorrow and face Alexander.
All weekend she tried her best to purge all the thoughts of him in her head. Along with everything she owned that reminded her of him. She also decided to post questionable photos on her social media, which had her friends and family in a frenzy.
She was quite tight lipped about the entire situation with Alexander, never telling her family what occurred other than the fact that her and Alexander were no longer together. She didn’t know what would happen if she told her family the truth of what happened that night of the gala.
Thankfully, it was Damian that brought her home, and not any of his brothers. Had they found her in the alleyway like Damian had, Thea didn’t know what would have happened to Alexander. He too did not question her about Alexander or her time in the alleyway, only silently lending his support in her time of need.
Althea moved off her bed, leaving her comforting nest of fuzzy blankets and fluffy pillows, and onto her balcony. Slowly, she cracked open her window to feel Gotham’s cold autumn breeze.
Thea gave out a big huff as the wind softly caressed her face like an old lover.
‘Lover’ Althea scoffed in her head, ‘Grandmother was right, men are undeserving of her and other women’s time.’
So deep in her thoughts that the daughter of Wonder Woman did not hear the creak of her door as it slowly opened.
The man that opened the girl’s door sighed gently, not wanting to disturb the girl out of her thoughts just yet. He recognized heartbreak when he first saw the girl early Saturday morning. He let her have her space the past two days, giving the boys a warning to leave her be. While he did not know the intricate details of what occurred, Alfred knew the girl enough and the boy’s family enough to figure out what happened between the pair. Alexander Blackwood was known for having multiple erm.. relationships with several women at the young age of 17.
Alfred Pennyworth had worked for the Wayne family for many years, and recognized Althea Prince as his honorary granddaughter, and the fact that she incurred one of the cruelest forms of heartbreak a person could suffer, made his blood boil with anger.
“Miss Prince, I have made your favorite tea and brought a tin of your favorite biscuits. I do hope that they make you feel better.” The Wayne butler told the young adult. The sight of his honorary granddaughter brought out a sigh from the normally well-reserved man. There were no tear track running down her face, nor was her face red and blotchy after hours of crying. But her eyes, her eyes are full of unbridled anger, but there was also an expansive sadness in Thea’s dark brown eyes.
The young girl gave the old man a watery smile, “Thank you Alfred, but I have no appetite right now.”
The man give her a tight smile before speaking, “Miss Prince, I do not know what happened this past Friday, nor do I need to know. That is your business, not mine. But I do wish to impart some wisdom on you. Your value Miss Prince, does not decrease based on someone’s inability to see your worth. Learn from this experience and what occurred, but do not let it freeze your heart from anyone loving you or you loving them.”
The amazonian teared up, and rushed to give the older man a hug. While she recognized Alfred’s words of wisdom, Althea knew better now. For the rest of her days she was to live as her grandmother did, her heart closed to man, but full of love for her sisters-in-arms, her daughter, and granddaughter.
and he kept walking, with the girl he loved nestled safely in his arms.
The gala took place in the heart of Gotham, and Wayne Manor was on the outskirts of the city. Alfred had most likely retired for the night, and everyone else was at the gala. And so, Damian walked. Damian felt better holding her in his arms, and walking them back home, anyways. He couldn’t trust anyone else to ensure Althea’s safety.
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There was a sliver of sun peeking through the curtains of her room. Which was quite unfortunate, as her bed was surprisingly more comfortable than usual and she didn’t want to get up just yet. Althea snuggled further into the bedding as she threw a blanket over her head to block out the sunlight.
But then she remembered…
And all of the air disappeared from her lungs and tears sprung from her eyes.
How could she have let this happen? After all the warnings that she had been raised on by her grandmother, and still she learnt nothing.
‘Men are unpredictable and not to be trusted. That is why you have a family of strong women.’ Her grandmother whispered amongst her thoughts as though she was there.
A few minutes after she woke, Thea decided that she wasn’t to cry over a boy any longer. She was Althea Grace Prince, granddaughter of the Queen of the Amazons, daughter of Wonder Woman.
He wasn’t worried. He was Damian Wayne, and he didn’t do worried.
‘Not worried, concerned.’ He thought to himself as he kept looking around the room. The word seemed to fit much better for his current predicament. Besides, worried implied something that he wasn’t quite ready to admit to. Especially regarding Althea Prince.
So no, the Wayne heir was not worried, just concerned is all.
It was Alexander Blackwood’s birthday gala. It was to be one of the biggest celebrations of the year. All of Gotham’s elite were invited, so naturally, the entire Wayne family had to attend. Even if he wasn’t invited, Damian would have gone anyway, just to make sure Althea was okay. She was an ally, after all. A particularly strong and resilient one, that actually has a brain and knows how to use it. So it would be quite a shame to lose such a formidable ally. It was the only reason he was there at Blackwood’s gala.
But, as time went on, Damian became more and more concerned. He had figured since it was Blackwood’s birthday, Prince would be at his side. However, he had seen Blackwood multiple times, and yet, there was no Althea. He knew from certain social media posts that the two had spent the night together and had arrived at the gala together. It was concerning to not see her at any point throughout the night.
It was nearing midnight, hours have passed, and there was no sign of the brunette beauty.
Blackwood’s loud and rambunctious laughter irritated the youngest Wayne, pushing him over the edge. Without thinking, Damian excused himself and walked out of the gala through the backdoor and onto the alleyway.
He regretted walking out that door, only because he hadn’t left the gala earlier.
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The heavens were crying, loudly and harshly. It was as if someone had done it an injustice, and they were only able to cry. Thunder and rain poured down from the sky, practically making it impossible to see. It was only due to his training from the League of Assassins, and the fact that his father was Batman, that Damian was able to make out the figure in the rain.
There, laying down in filth, in the middle of a Gotham alleyway, was the most beautiful girl Damian Wayne ever had the pleasure of knowing. Even if she was soaked to the bone and grime covered her face, Damian knew the sight of Althea Prince.
Sobs wreaked through her body, and Damian could tell she was barely breathing. It was as if the air refused to enter into her body, and instead, chose to leave.
“ALTHEA!” Damian shouted, as he rushed towards the fallen girl, the gala and everyone else be damned. He had more important matters to attend to. Momentarily, he forgot that she was Amazonian, and therefore would not be as severely affected by the pouring rain as a human would. He didn’t care, all thought flew out the window when it came to protecting her.
Damian threw himself down on his knees in front of the crying girl. It was then that he realized she was only covered minimally in the dress that she wore from the gala. Quickly, he took off his soaked jacket and threw it over Althea, hoping to protect her as much as he could. Damian reached out, scooped the girl into his arms, rose, and walked all the way to Wayne Manor.
She had only been with Alexander for four weeks, and Althea didn’t think she could be happier. See, she didn’t know if she was in love with Alexander or anything. He was sweet and kind, very much the Gotham gentleman that he was raised to be. So really, she had nothing to complain about. Alexander was a very good first boyfriend for sure, but was Thea in love?
She was an Amazon, she trained for battles. But she was also a teenage girl that was susceptible to fall in love. Aphrodite had made her human enough for her to fall in love. But was she in love with Alexander? Was he her true love? Thea didn’t know the answer to her questions, but as she cuddled into Alexander’s side, she realized she wouldn’t mind being in love with him.
Love was supposed to be amazing wasn’t it? All of the movies and books had described it as incredibly spectacular. Explosions and butterflies were supposed rumble through her stomach, but she didn’t feel that with Alexander. Sure, the occasional butterfly would flutter through her stomach when she was with him. But she never had that feeling all the time, she didn’t feel what Thea thought she should.
She never had a real-life example of what love was though. Not romantic love at least. She knew familial love. She felt it in Themyscira with her aunts and her grandmother. She felt motherly love from her mother, it was tender, caring, and wholesome. She felt love with siblings from the children that were housed within Wayne Manor, and from Jon Kent.
Though there was a different spark with a certain green-eyed Wayne—but that was a different story.
She snuggled closer to the blond haired boy, forced herself to shake away the thoughts, and drifted off to sleep. Tomorrow was an important day after all.
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The next morning, a kiss to her forehead woke Althea from her slumber. She grunted, rolled over, and snuggled deeper into the soft blankets.
A chuckle came from above her, clearly amused by the girl’s actions.
“Good morning, Princess.” The whisper came from the same voice that laughed at the girl. Althea had spent the night at Blackwood Manor, only because it was Alexander’s birthday the next day. Althea Prince was to be prepared and pampered with Alexander’s sister and mother.
The invitation to spend the night at Blackwood Manor was from none other than the Matriarch herself, Charlotte Blackwood. She was a kind, respectable, and a ruthless woman. She cared for her two children, Alexander and Chloe. But her true passion was in politics, and she had a knack for it.
“Come on, Althea. We have to get ready for tonight.” Alexander whispered in her ear, as he bent down to press another kiss to his girlfriend. Althea slowly opened her eyes, only to see the adonis that was her boyfriend. His goofy grin and bright blue eyes was a sight to behold.
“Good morning birthday boy,” Althea whispered back, as she rose a bit to press a kiss to Alexander’s lips, “How did you sleep babe?”
Not waiting for a reply, she laid back down and into the warm blankets. Maybe she could go back to sleep just for a little while longer. Unfortunately, the blankets that she had cocooned herself in were grabbed and thrown out of her grasp. A small whine left her lips, just loud enough for her boyfriend to hear it.
“If you get up now,” Alexander teased, as he walked toward his bathroom, “We can go get donuts for breakfast.”
A blur pushed past him, shoved him out of the way, and locked him out of his own bathroom. Only a small shout was heard from said blur.
You know why I absolutely loved Birds of Prey? Gotham. So many of the recent movies set in that city have tried to make it all broody and dark, but there are regular people. Living their lives. Sure, their lives are fucking i n s a n e, like carry around a gas mask every day in case someone gases your building i n s a n e, but still. Like, Harley Quinn walking down the street and no one giving a shit? THAT’S WHAT I WANT. People willing going to a supervillain’s club because it’s a good club? YES PLEASE! There’s only so much batshit bullshit you can take until it just becomes normal, and if you want to tell me people in Gotham are still freaked out by Harley Quinn just, being on a public roller derby team? you’re wrong.
Gotham is like Las Vegas getting stuck exactly in-between it's "run by the Mafia" and "time for all the over-the-top whacky themed casinos" phases, with more costumed lunatics, and even less people giving a single fuck about if they're accidentally friends with a crime boss until it's a problem for them personally.
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