The tension in the air was so thick that even the gods themselves would have trouble cutting it as everyone waited for Hannibal to join them. The spot at the head of the table was empty, for it was where the eldest demigod would be sitting. Will Graham and Ashley Al'Ghul sat side by side with matching steely glares.

The two detectives, in Abigail's opinion, were beginning to look more and more like a father-daughter pair every day. The closer you looked, the more the similarities seemed to pop. The same deadly expressions, the same snarky attitudes, similar eye, hair, and skin color depending on the lighting, seeing as the colors of most of Ashley's features almost seemed to have a mind of their own.

Abigail met Ashley's eyes for a second before she glanced to the side. "The weather's been nice."

Ashley's eyes seemed to narrow further. She refused to talk to the traitor who had brought along the redheaded reporter of all people. "I should think not. Too hot, in my opinion." As she spoke, Will glanced at her, but before he could say anything, the redhead spoke up.

Freddie Lounds tossed her an equally forced smile. "You would say that, wouldn't you? Where did you say you from again?"

"Gotham, you uneducated..."

Ashley's insult was cut short as Hannibal reentered the room. "I feel terrible Miss Lounds. Never entered my head that you might be a vegetarian. A lapse on my behalf."

Ashley had gone terribly still at the cannibal's presence as she tried to judge whether or not he had been in earshot when she had said it.

Her eyes flickered to the meat on her plate. She couldn't remember what Hannibal claimed it was, but she knew for a fact that it was human flesh. Gingerly she picked up her fork and noted his amusement as she started to cut it.

She had never been more grateful about the fact that she was lying about her age as Will Graham and Freddie Lounds bickered back and forth. She ignored the fact that there most likely was traces of blood in the red wine as she took a sip. Drink to forget, as the mortals always kindly put it.

The glass was finished before she had even put a dent in her salad. Curse my high alcohol tolerance, Ashley thought to herself after she was finally dragged back into the conversation.

"You have to understand our concern. You don't exactly have the best track record when it comes to the truth, Freddie." In fact, I'm not sure if it's physically possible for you to do so.

The redhead tilted her head slightly. "And you do? Tell me, why exactly is there no trace of you before recently?"

Ashley smiled. "My family doesn't believe in social media. It goes against our religious beliefs. You know how Middle Easterns are, don't you?"

That had shut the taboo reporter up quite nicely. As a white person in America, Freddie couldn't disagree or argue that fact without appearing racist. Ha! Got you now.

Ashley was rather proud of how quickly she shut down that conversation and was practically beaming the rest of the dinner from her spot by Will Graham's side, and she didn't utter another word.

"Do you need a ride back to the University?"

Ashley's eyes glanced from the familiar form of Zoe's constellation to the form of her professor. Her eyes seemed to twinkle mischievously under the night sky. "Not tonight, no. Goodnight."

Will nodded slightly in confusion. He hadn't seen how she arrived, but there was only one other vehicle besides Hannibal's in the driveway, and he knew for a fact that it wasn't hers. "Night."

≈§≈

Ashley couldn't help but feel embarrassed that it took her so long to figure out why Will Graham constantly felt confused.

As they leaned over the freshest body, she sensed his confusion. She felt how quickly it was turning to horror and how he was getting close, too close to the body. In a moment that was fueled more on instincts and panic — whether it was his or her own was hard to tell — Ashley slammed her forehead against his. His eyes flew open as he was quite literally pushed from his vision.

Wide, panic-stricken eyes met her calmer ones and she held a finger to her lips as Beverley called out to them. "Yeah, we're fine. Just accidentally bumped heads is all!"

One surprisingly dainty hand grabbed Will's chin and forced him to look at her. "Your name is Will Graham. We are in Greenwood, Delaware, and you did not kill this girl." She let go before continuing. "I want you to try to identify five things you can see. You don't have to name them aloud."

Will nodded frantically again. He was still hyperventilating, so she continued. "Okay, good. Now I want you to focus on 4 things you can feel." He was a little bit calmer now. "When you're done, find three things you can hear." She waited for a second. "Two things you can smell."

Will's eyes were closed now, but he had stopped hyperventilating. Ashley smiled slightly before she tried to think of what to do. Her first instinct was to get help from an adult. But if she were to take a dissociative episode up with Jack, she would most likely get Will in trouble, or worst, sent to a mental asylum.

A small part of her couldn't help but miss her days as a member of the League of Assassins at that moment. Life was so much easier when she had orders to follow rather than orders to give.

Will's breath was almost back to normal by the time she spoke again in a whisper that seemed to be the perfect mixture of scratchy and smooth. "Alright. I'm going to leave the room and get you a glass of water and Advil, and when I come back you're going to tell me just how long you've been experiencing dissociative episodes."

≈§≈

Will seemed to duck his head in an attempt to avoid Ashley's disappointed glare as she reentered the room with a bottle of Advil and a glass of water, just as she had promised. For a split second, she wondered if this is what parents felt when they pick their kids up from the principal's office.

"So, how long?"

He diverted his eyes as he accepted the glass of water. "It's hard to say when it started. It was gradual at first, like a feather drifting to the ground." Will popped four pills into his mouth and took another sip before he finally met her eyes. "Now it's starting to feel more like an avalanche."

He glanced down again. "Are you going to tell Jack?"

Ashley remained silent for a moment or two before speaking up. "I should, but I think it would be better if it comes from you." She sighed before uncrossing her arms. "Until you know what's going on and how to regulate it, you shouldn't be anywhere near a crime scene and you know it. If they find out what's going on from someone else or when you finally snap, it'll backfire in your face. So if you know what's good for you, you'll quit."

She bit her bottom lip before continuing. "If I were you, I would quit and get a new psychiatrist."

"Why are you so adamant about getting a different psychiatrist?"

"I..." Ashley paused awkwardly. Know for a fact he's a psychopathic cannibal and is most likely the cause of your deteriorating mental state. He also sort of happens to be your soulmate. Tough luck bro. She cleared her throat before starting over. "I have trust issues. There's just... something doesn't feel right about him."

She thought to herself for a moment and looked away. "This weekend, I'm going back to Gotham and you should come with me. I know someone who ... could pay for a MRI scan. And I can get you a psych evaluation from one of two different psychologist. They're not licensed anymore, of course, but I assure you they are still competent enough."

"Licensed any," Will started before letting out an exasperated sigh, "do I even want to know how you have connections to Scarecrow and Harley Quinn?"

She shrugged her shoulders. "In Gotham, you have three options: be adopted by Bruce Wayne, be dragged into vigilante-ism by a mentally unstable Bat furry, or join the criminal hierarchy."

Will's eyes widened. "Wait ... Batman's real?"