Samantha had realized by then that the Gray Son was a weapon to Lavina and she was not alone in wielding that weapon against the Court. It would not have bothered her that much if she weren't the Head but ever since she had taken up that post, she had realized that she was intentionally put on an execution stand by Lavina.

Her father may have died by accident in Joker's havoc at the Gotham theater but if something happened to Samantha, it wouldn't be by accident but by careful planning.

Being cautious was essential for a woman in her position. And that was precisely why she had wanted to get rid of the weapon before it could strike at her.

However, Richard Grayson was no ordinary man to be rid of so easily. He was Batman, a dedicated spirit striving to save the city and who could be a very dangerous foe if provoked.

And so far he had been provoked countless times, both by the Court of Owls and by Lavina herself though the latter had intentionally done it to steer his hatred further towards the Court.

The primary concern Samantha had was that as the Head of the Court, she would be the first to be targeted by anyone attempting to strike against them. Hence the first one to suffer if the Gray Son took decision of eliminating the Court would be herself.

She no longer trusted Lavina blindly and knew the woman was frighteningly cunning such that she cared not if any innocent life was sacrificed in her wake. An evident proof of it was Timothy Drake and she knew that with conviction because she had been there the day the fourteen year old had come to visit Lavina in order to warn her about the attacks on the Gotham elites.

Samantha had recognized that tone of deception and fake sweetness that Lavina had crafted in her facade back then towards Tim and when just weeks later the boy committed suicide, she was bound to connect the dots and dig out the truth.

She also knew that there was no possible way that Lavina was alone in all her calculative scheming. Of course she could get away with most of it on her own but there had to be someone supporting her massively for her to be able to get so far in her plans.

Even with the power of being the Head of the Court, Samantha had realized that she couldn't do much so it was quite impossible for a woman like Lavina to do so much just on her own.

Her temples throbbed as she pondered over it all, thinking carefully on what to do next.

Taking Richard Grayson in by force had backfired because he had escaped and that could never have been possible without inside help. There were only two options left for her by then.

Either she had to find out who was helping Lavina and put an end to them first or she had to tackle Richard with an entirely different approach.

Aggression would only cause him to lash out and she had to think of a subtle and much more effective way than simply getting rid of him. Because if he could prove to be a dangerous foe, he could also be a very benefitting ally.

After all, Lavina's greatest weapon could no doubt be turned into her greatest weakness if only Samantha was able to play her cards right.

***

Jason had two favorite spots in the city; first the Theater because he worked there and considered it as a stairway to his ambition of becoming an actor, second the Supreme Café because the place offered delicious sweets and the best coffee he had ever tasted.

Supreme Café was a regular hangout space for him and his friends such that they went to the café very often and had befriended almost the entire staff.

The one person they interacted with most was a young man with sandy brown hair and honey shaded eyes who was usually at the counter but worked part time in the kitchen as well. Though the reason behind their frequent interaction was also due to one other mutual friend of theirs.

"There's no way Helena's dating him," Carrie whispered as the three were sitting on their usual table in clear view of the counter while Jason had just revealed a secret Helena had threatened him to keep his mouth shut about.

But Jason was terrible at keeping secrets and there was absolutely nothing that he would not tell Carrie and Laurie. The only exception had been the fact that him, Helena and Richard were the vigilantes who were trying to protect the city but that too had been revealed due to Richard's public confession a month prior.

"She is but none of you are supposed to let her know that I told you guys or else I won't live to see another day," Jason remarked though his attention was focused at the pastry he had bought.

There was no wonder he spent a major portion of his pay on the desserts available at Supreme Café.

"If she had warned you not to spill then you should have respected that," Laurie added, "you do know it's impossible to pretend in front of her because she sees through everything."

"I could easily get away with pretending that I know nothing about this because I still can't accept that you're telling the truth," Carrie remarked off handedly, "I am not Laurie to literally believe in every single thing you say."

Hazel eyes flickered slightly, "hey, I don't do that!"

"Laurie, seriously, you believe in everything Jason says even when you know that he's messing around with us more than half the time he spends with us," she shook her head as if disappointed.

Jason's pastry had finished so he got time to express that he was visibly offended, "oh come on, I don't mess with you guys."

"Yes, you do," both of them replied in unison. 

"Well... Not always," he tried to defend himself but failed.

"The worst was when you faked amnesia," Carrie mumbled, eyes trailing towards the counter again that was temporarily empty, "don't ever do that again."

"Anyhow, tell us truthfully; are you messing with us right now or not?" Laurie asked.

Jason sighed, rolling his eyes in a dramatic gesture, "of course not. I told you guys the truth and I can't get why you two are making such a huge fuss out of it. Though what bugs me is that why can't you two believe that Al and Helena are together?"

"Because they are polar opposites," Carrie stated, "Alexander is not someone who could be her type."

"Says the girl who doesn't believe in types," Jay teased, steel blue eyes sparking mischievously.

"Shut up."

"By the way I read somewhere that opposites attract," Laurie was as always rather oblivious to Jay teasing Carrie or so it seemed. 

He had gotten so accustomed to their banters that it hardly ever made a difference to him. While Carrie on the other hand always got very annoyed and would end up chasing Jason with the first thing she could find to use as a weapon against him.

"Both of you, for instance," Laurie had resumed speaking which got them to shut up and listen to what he was saying, "are polar opposites too. Yet both of you are obviously attracted to each other and don't you even think of denying it because that's one thing I won't believe in."

"Excuse me?"

"Laurie, you have a death wish..."

He chuckled, "no, I don't. I was just stating what I observed."

Silence engulfed them for a short while but it couldn't last long because as usual Carrie had quick temper that was hard to contain. 

"You know what, this once I'm letting you off easy because it's the first time you've made such a horrible joke," she remarked though both her and Jason were trying their best to not blush at that revelation or else it would only give their friend more confirmation, "next time if you even think of pulling our legs like that, I'll trip you off a building and have no regrets."

***