wouldnt it be nice ⟿ TITANS

under pressure

v. chapter five

CHICAGO, ILLINOIS

As the car slowed to a stop at the side of the road, the girl looked out of the window to her left, leaning and almost pressing her face against the glass, trying to see the full length of the building. Dick grabbed his jacket from the backseat and hastily got out of the car, shutting the door behind him and walking round to her side of the car. Just in time, she pulled away from the glass and Dick opened the door towards him, waiting patiently for her to get out of the car. Stepping out, she couldn't take her eyes off the building, her mouth unintentionally opening slightly in awe. The top of the building was shielded by a layer of cloud, leaving the true height of the building a mystery. At that moment, she realised just how much of the world she had missed, and how long she had actually spent cooped up in her small office back at the motel. 

Dick looked at her out of the corner of his eye, amused at her reaction. After hearing the story she had told a few hours prior, he imagined she must have been at least a hundred years old, but somehow never aged. Seeing her response to something as simple and as common as a city building made him realise that despite living so long, she really was as young as she looked. 

"Come on." He spoke softly, grabbing her attention. He nodded to the entrance and slowly made his way whilst she caught on and jogged up to join him. 

Reaching the glass doors, they opened automatically, catching the girl off guard and making her jump backwards. Dick chuckled at her and smiled reassuringly as she looked sheepish. Making their way into the lobby, the girl's eyes wandered around, exploring her surroundings until they landed on the older woman leaning over a pot holding a small tree. She instantly became more altered as she noticed Dick also looked weary. Her eyes remained on the woman whilst Dick made his way to the stand on their left that held the building directory. 

Her eyes flicked over to see what was taking Dick so long before returning to the woman, who continued trimming the tree she was tending to. Nothing overly suspicious, but considering why she and Dick were here, she couldn't let her guard down at any point. 

Eventually, Dick turned back around to her, also looking at the woman who was still oblivious to their presence. He led the way to the elevator and pushed one of the buttons, both of them patiently waiting as they could hear the lift making its way to them. Dick noticed a security camera on the ceiling behind them, realising they were most likely being watched. 

"Butterscotch?" The older woman's sudden movements made the two jump as they spun around at the sound of her voice. In her hand were two butterscotch sweets in wrappers and a bright grin was spread on her face. Dick graciously accepted with a thank you and a small smile, whilst the girl showed no emotion, eyes still fixed on the woman, trying to figure out what her plan was, or if she even had one. 

With an even wider smile, the woman walked back around the corner, presumably to return to her tree, just in time for the elevator doors to open. Both of them stepped in and the doors shut behind them. Dick leant over to the floor buttons to notice only one labelled, so he pressed it, prompting the lift to begin moving. Looking back at the butterscotch in his hand, his head turned to the girl beside him, ready to ask if they were okay to eat, but saw her already shaking her head, not having even turned to look at him, as if she already knew what he was going to ask. He nodded his head in understanding and pocketed them. In what seemed like no time at all, they noticed the once silver walls disappeared the high they got and instead turned transparent, revealing their stop, the penthouse suite.