Freya's POV:

Since Courtney didn't exactly come with us to the tunnels, we wanted to catch her up to speed about what we found in the Injustice Society meeting room during lunch.

"Sylvester searched the lab. No Dragon King yet." Beth sighed.

"But he could still be out there," Rick reminded. "so what do we tell Cindy?"

"Despite being a part of the team, she at least deserves the truth about everything we know. It's her father." I add. "If we were all in her position, I bet we would want to know too. Plus, she could help given that she knows more about him than us."

Yolanda kept her gaze on her fruit bowl. "I still don't trust her, okay?" She grumbled, but I discretely link my pinky with hers which causes her to let out a sigh. "But I guess I'm open to it if that's what Courtney wants."

I look over at Courtney, waiting for her response but her eyes were set on her phone, scrolling through whatever was on her screen.

"Court." Rick called but she didn't bother to look up.

"Earth to Courtney Whitmore." Yolanda slightly raised her voice which caused the girl to jump.

"I'm listening." Courtney quickly placed her phone down.

I raise a brow. "I wouldn't call that listening."

"I was," Courtney crossed her arms over her chest, gesturing for us to continue. "let's loop Sylvester in."

Rick shook his head. "That's not what we were talking about."

"Hi." A voice spoke which causes us to look up, seeing the innocent smile on Cameron's face as he glanced down at Courtney.

"Hi, back at you." Courtney softly greeted with a giddy smile.

Cameron looked over at us with a wave. "How's it going, guys?"

"Huh, you're finally in a better mood now." I scoff, plucking the last grape from my fruit bowl and tossing it into my mouth. "Gave me the cold shoulder and I'm supposed to forget about it?"

Cameron winced. "Yeah, sorry about that. I...I wasn't in the mood that day."

I shrug. "Looks like I'm not in the mood today then, either."

"Freya--"

"Dude, we're in the middle of a conversation." Rick interrupted, crossing his arms over his chest.

Cameron's grip tightened on his backpack strap, not bothering to move from his spot. "Okay."

"So get lost."

"What exactly is your problem?"

"I am staring right at him."

"Rick, knock it off." Courtney scolded before she looked up at Cameron. "I-I am so sorry, Cameron. We're right in the middle of a project."

"It's for the science fair." Beth said with a nervous smile.

"Well, I didn't mean to interrupt. Sorry." Cameron awkwardly cleared his throat until he locked eyes with Courtney once more and smiled.

"It's okay."

"I'll see you later." He waved before he walked away from our table and out of the cafeteria.

Once he was earshot away, Courtney turned to us with disbelief.

Rick scoffed. "Don't tell me you're hanging out with that creep."

"He's not a creep. Do not say that." She harshly remarked.

"Okay, kind of bad timing, Court." Beth spoke up, attempting to ease the tension. "We are trying to find a killer. We need you."

"Especially yesterday. You weren't answering anybody." I added. "Which is why we had to bring Sylvester to the tunnels."

"Yeah, Sylvester's great, but..." Yolanda awkwardly trailed off as she pushed her fruit bowl closer to mine so that I could grab some of hers.

"He has a temper." Rick finished for her.

"Oh, and you don't?" As soon as Courtney uttered those words, I practically almost choke on the grapes I swallowed. Normally it would be me saying something mean to Rick but hearing it from Courtney is a surprise. "Look, guys, I am focused on the case, I am. But I'm helping Cameron, too, okay? We're the JSA, right? We help people."

"Okay, what does Cameron Mahkent need help with?" Beth questioned.

"Is he dying? Bleeding? Did he get a bruise?" I list with a scoff. "Being threatened by a murderer who already struck, may I remind you just in case you forgot, twice? Come on Court, you need to get your head straight and not lose focus on some lovey-dovey thing you have with him."

"Listen, I finally found someone I like. Can't you just be happy for me?" Courtney asked.

"Truthfully, no. Not when it's him." Yolanda argued with agitation. "I'm sorry, Courtney, but Cameron's dad--"

"Cameron's not his dad any more than I'm mine, Yolanda." Courtney slightly raised her voice. "That's not fair to him or me. It's not like he's using me to get back at the JSA." She harshly stated before snatching her bag from the floor and storming away from our lunch table.

Ouch.

.・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。. *✭

After the...tense conversation with Courtney that happened at lunch, the others thought it would be best to fill in Sylvester about what happened and explain our concerns.

As much as I'm still a bit uneasy hanging around him due to what happened with his father, I don't think he deserved to be shut out.

Even though I completely disregarded him. That was messed up on my part.

So as soon as school ended, the four of us sat on the steps at the Pit Stop as Sylvester stood in front of us and intently listened to the rundown of our conversation.

But last night's events and my conversation with Cindy completely clouded my thoughts.

What are the odds of bumping into a random stranger in a grocery store and ending up becoming friends with my--or well, who I assume to be, my mom? In the same city.

Am I crazy for thinking Inza Cramer could be her? What are the chances of both of our accidents were coincidentally the same? But what about the stuffed plushy? It's obvious!

But what if it's too obvious?

"Yeah...and then she just walked away." Rick scoffed, the sound breaking me from my thoughts.

"I've never seen Courtney like that." Beth muttered in discomfort.

"Me, either." Yolanda added, picking at her nails with a thoughtful expression.

"It makes sense why she didn't pick up her phone yesterday. She was with Cameron." I point out, adjusting my posture so that I could lean my back further against the stairs. "She's distracted."

"Okay, guys," Sylvester sighed, placing his hands on his hips. "it does sound like you kind of went after her a little bit."

Yolanda looked up in surprise. "You're on her side?"

"There are no sides, Yolanda. You shouldn't think that way ever." He shook his head in disappointment. "Look, the JSA was made up of all sorts of people, and we were not all best buds. I mean, hell, I got on Doctor Fate's nerves worse than Wotan."

Rick tilted his head to the side in confusion. "What the hell's a Wotan?"

"Isn't that a Chinese dumpling?" Yolanda whispered.

Beth winced. "You're thinking of wonton."

"Wotan was an archenemy to my dad, Doctor Fate." I explain, stifling a chuckle.

"The point is!" Sylvester slightly raised his voice until he quickly cleared his throat. "The point is, the JSA got into a fight about what happened with Bruce Gordon. We never fully reconciled. Then my choice about Bruce made us pick sides, and that eventually destroyed us."

I glance at the others and notice their guilt-written expressions. I don't want us to end up like that. Maybe we were too hard on Court.

Sylvester leans against the table behind him with a sigh. "I just--I should've listened to Pat. I should've done whatever I had to do to bring the team back together, but..." He trailed before he shook his head with determination. "Learn from my mistakes, please. So if Courtney wants to hang out with Cameron Mahkent, let her."

I furrow my brows in confusion. "So...what are we supposed to do?"

"We still have a murder to solve, remember?" Beth gently reminded.

"But without Court?"

"I still think Cindy's not telling us something." Yolanda muttered and crossed her arms over her chest. "Maybe about her dad?"

"Okay, go with your gut." Sylvester encouraged. "Follow it."

Yolanda discreetly nudges my leg with her foot, sending me a suggestive expression.

As much as I would like to tag along with Yolanda's investigation, I still had to deal with my personal matter with the Inza mess.

"I still have to fix the hourglass." Rick added, briefly looking down at Beth, who nervously kept glancing at her backpack since it kept buzzing.

"Okay, we'll work on that. Beth?"

Beth lets out a sigh as she removes her glasses from her head. "Sorry." She whispered and unzipped her bag, pulling out the goggles before she quickly slipped them over her eyes. "Hello?"

"Hey, hon. How was your math test?" Her mother voice's happily greeted.

Beth's expression crumbled into discomfort. "Horrible. I cheated."

"You what?" Her father asked in shock.

"I can't talk right now. I'm in the middle of a JSA meeting."

"Barbara said that The Crocks were following up on some leads."

Looks like I wasn't the only one that heard Lawrence and Paula's evidence.

"Honey, The Crocks?" Her mother scoffed. "If they can help, we can certainly do something."

"Yeah. Give us an assignment. Better yet, a special mission."

"Ooh, yes! We're ready for a special mission."

"Oh, come on, we're more than ready!"

"Come on, special mission!" Her parents continued to excitedly repeat until Beth unclenched her fists and cleared her throat.

"We'll talk later tonight, okay? Bye." She firmly spoke, waiting until they bid their final goodbyes and hung up the call. She shyly moves the goggles away from her eyes with a nervous smile. "They want me to give them a 'mission.'" She emphasized with a light chuckle, using her fingers as air quotations.

"It's always hard when the family finds out. Gets involved." Sylvester solemnly explained and instantly I couldn't help but think of Artemis. "My sister, Merry, she did."

"Henry's mom, right?" Yolanda quietly asked. "Merry Pemberton."

He nodded. "Brainwave killed her."

Beth's posture stiffen at his words and nervously fiddled with her fingers. "So what do I do?"

"First rule I have: protect the family."

.・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。. *✭

"When you asked me if I wanted to help you investigate Cindy this was not what I had in mind." I whisper, keeping my arm wrapped around Yolanda's waist as we hovered near Cindy's window which was left wide open. "Breaking and entering are crossing the line."

"Baby, you heard Sylvester. He said to follow my gut." She nodded her head to the window. "This is what my gut is telling me."

"Is it your gut or is it your anger convincing you to find any reason to blame Cindy?"

She rolled her eyes in annoyance and tapped my arm. "It's my gut. If you're not going to help, put me down so that I can look before she gets back home. You can go if you want."

I groan and fly her closer to the window which allows her to easily climb through first. Before she could start her search, her eyes slightly widen as she watches me climb inside soon after.

Not too long after, her expression shifted into a smirk and I let out a huff. "As if I'd leave you alone without an escape."

She playfully shrugs as she walks over to Cindy's door, double-checking the hall to make sure no one was there. "I knew you wouldn't."

To make things easier and faster, we divided our search where she would check the drawers and vanity mirror while I would search through the closet and cabinets.

Thankfully, Cindy kept things tidy in her bedroom which didn't make things too hard to look through. However, I didn't see anything that could be considered 'evil' worthy. In fact, it looked like a normal teenage girl's closet filled with clothes.

The results were the same with Yolanda and judging from the way she rummaged through Cindy's things with no regard for whether it looked exactly like it was left, she was pissed.

"Stupid drawer." She grumbled under her breath, harshly shoving it back into place, and walked over to the closet. "Are you sure you really looked inside?"

"Of course I did. Why--" She didn't even bother to listen to the rest of the sentence since she pulled open the doors once more. "Okay, I think we should go."

"No. Not until we find something. She's gotta be hiding something and I intend on figuring it out." She snapped, pulling the hangers to the side to get a better view of the closet. "There's probably a secret compartment or something but I know her. She has to be hiding--"

"I tried all the tricks. It's clean." I gently cut in, ignoring the slight ache in my chest. "Yola--"

"Maybe it's not in here then. Maybe we should check the other rooms just in case she--"

"That's enough!" I sternly emphasize,  placing my hand on her shoulders to make her attention focused solely on me. I shut the closet doors and slowly turn to face her, meeting her saddened expression. "I'm sorry but...Yolanda, we've looked everywhere and found nothing."

"I refuse to let this go, Freya. Why don't you believe me?"

"It's not that I don't believe you. It's just...I don't like seeing you like this." I softly explain as I reach to grab her hand. "We need a better plan. Maybe to figure out other ways where she might've kept incriminating evidence against her. Maybe she has a spot no one else knows about?"

"Or..." Yolanda trailed, pulling her hand out of my grip as she crouches down to the floor near Cindy's bed. She sticks her hand underneath and pulls out a familiar purple laptop which causes my eyes to widen in surprise. "she accidentally slipped up...I knew it."

"That--That's The Gambler's laptop." I accidentally stammer. "Holy shit. Then that means—"

"I am gonna kick her ass." Yolanda whispered, shaking her head in disbelief.

Uh oh.