(you can do it if you want, it was a really random decision to pair clem and jason anyway)
"No, Jason."
"Yes! You would rather die than help the kid of your worst enemy! She hasn't done anything! All your hatred towards her is for Joker and Harley!"
(Lol, alrighty~)
Their arguing was getting louder, and Ember could hear every word. She just hoped Clem didn't.
"I can drive for you, if you don't feel like it." She said softly, continuing to rub her shoulder. "You won't even have to go in, if it hurts you."
"No," Clem said softly, brushing Ember off so that she could stand up. "No, I have to do this. For Lucy's sake and form my own."
Pushing up off the ground, she gave her friend a reassuring smile. "You'll make it, and you'll save Lucy. I am sure of it." She hummed, taking Clem's hand. "You ready?"
"Yeah, yeah I think I am," Clem walked over to Jason, ignoring Bruce and the other three. "Jason, I'm going to go to Gotham Academy to try and find Lucy. I'd really like if you came with me." She then turned to the others. "I no longer care if you help me. You haven't done anything so far and I feel you may be useless."
"I'll come," Dick piped up. "I would really like to help you. For Lucy's sake."
Ember had followed behind Clem, listening to her speak. Relief filled her when she told them they could basically f-off. The celebration stopped though, when she heard Dick pipe up. 'No…' She groaned mentally, her shoulders slumped slightly.
"I'll come as well," Tim added. "I would hate for any of my siblings to get kidnapped. They'd be able to handle themselves…but you know what I mean."
"I thank you for that," Clem smiled. "Gotham Academy is a little bit of a drive. Might want to leave now."
Inwardly she groaned in compliant, though she knew it was best to have others along. Though she really, really hoped Bruce didn't come. He was a pain, and Ember didn't think Clem needed him along. The 5 of them were better off.
"Well…" Damian started. "I don't care enough. There's no point sugar-coating it. And I think that it would be a good idea for Father not to come. Let's go home."
For once, Clem was glad for the little devil child.
Full on relief flooded over her now. She didn't care about the others, she was just too glad not to have Bruce come along. Ember had forgotten about the little child until he had spoken up, though.
Never expecting to say, much less think it, she was happy for one of the Wayne kids to have been around. Ironically only to convince Bruce Wayne to leave in the end.
"I will admit though, I do not feel like driving," Clem said to those who were coming. "But I don't want to leave my car here - I spent good money on it and it doesn't deserve to be left in this dump."
Ember would offer, but she had a feeling she was putting it out there for someone else. "We should probably decide who goes with who." Ember said softly, arms crossed over her chest.
"I'm sorry but I don't really trust either of you to drive my car," Clem said simply. "Truthfully, I wouldn't even want Ember driving my car, not with the way I've seen her driven junkyard cars."
“Hey!” Ember groaned, crossing her arms over her chest. “No need to be rude about it Clem.” She half pouted, seemingly offended. “I drive much better than you’ve seen. If you don’t believe me, I’ll show you sometime.”
"Sure, just not in my car. Jason is the only person who I would trust enough to drive my car and even then I don't really want him to drive. So I guess I'll just drive myself. Problem solved."
"I'd object, but you wouldn't care." Ember mumbled, walking up to Ember's car. "Can I ride with you this time? I don't mind riding in the back."
"I guess you could, but-"
She was cut off by Dick. "Jason, you go with Clem."
"-you'll be a little squished. I reckon there'll be enough space for you."
Giving Dick a strange look, she walked up to Clem. Speaking in a whisper, she had a slight smirk on her face. "Anything's better than another awkward car ride. I'll just suffer being crammed, as long as I have someone to talk to." She snickered, hoping the others hadn't heard her. "Also, I think baby-batman is trying to be like his daddy."
"Which one?" Clem whispered back. "There's four of them, you know."
Clem pulled out her keys, unlocking her car. She reached into the back and pushed her mallet aside: no one was allowed to touch her mallet, it was as special to her as Lucy was.
"Well two of them, I'll give you a hint, I'm not talking about either Jason or Tim." She mumbled, climbing in the back. She was careful to leave a small space between her and the mallet. "I think you can figure it out from there."
Clem sighed while shaking her head, a small smile on her face. She hopped into the driver's seat and waited for Jason to get into the passenger seat, then turned the engine on. She rolled the window down, looking at Dick and Tim. "See you boys there."
Ember chuckled, sticking her head in between both Jason and Clem. "About how far are we from The Academy?" She hummed, pulling her leg up onto the set under herself. "Just so I don't keep asking on the way there."
"Well, both Arkham Asylum and Gotham Academy are on the coast. Arkham is less so to make it harder for people to escape. And we'll have to be careful in the Academy: most of it is in ruins." Jason knew this stuff better than Clem.
"So you're saying…?" Ember asked as if he had just spoken crazy talk. "Long or short? That's all I'm asking." She clicked her tongue, seeming not to be as moody from before.
"Relatively short," Jason replied. "And from knowledge on how fast Clem drives, probably less than normal. Just a warning though: the Academy is rotting. You could step on a floorboard and go straight through. I'm not saying that you're not capable, not in the slightest. But it's an unpredictable place."
"Yeah I got it." She hummed pulling back so she could sit in her seat comfortably. "Watch my step, and watch my back. Shouldn't be too hard, I've already got step two done." Ember muttered, pulling her phone from her pocket. "Just let me know when we get there. Unless we need to discuss a plan now."
"No, we can wing it. Besides, Dad is unpredictable." With that, Clem fell silent. There was a lot running through her mind, more than she thought she might be able to handle.
"You wanna talk Clem? Get it off of your chest?" Ember asked softly, clicking her phone back off. The way she spoke, and how quickly she went quiet worried Ember. "I certainly don't mind if you do. I'm sure Jason doesn't either."
"Not now, no. I'd rather get this over and done with before talking about my feelings. I don't want to overload myself." Clem knew what would happen, and it had already happened once that day. The scary thing about her powers was they could turn on her in an instant, bringing back memories it had repressed itself.
Ember didn't know everything, but she knew a little bit. She knew when not to push her limits, right now was then. Clem would end up driving them off the road, and what followed after, was not something Ember wanted to experience. "Alright, then we get there, save Lucy, and get out. I'll fill in the details later."
