Rocky... At first...

"C-Could you g-guys tone it down..." Davenport pleads.

You all look at the poor girl who is pale and close to hyperventilating. In fact, she looks close to passing out.

"Ash?" Grayson asks concernedly, before glaring at you threateningly. Seeing that he seems mere seconds from lashing out, you ready to defend yourself.

"N-Not him... B-Both of you... T-Too powerful..." Davenport gasps, a hand on her head. "T-too m-much to handle..."

Reluctantly, extremely so, both you and Grayson back down but are still wary of each other. Davenport visibly relaxes. However, she looks at you and Grayson apprehensively. "I thought I knew what power felt like... I was there, in the city, when Janice Bree had her little hissy fit, but you two... You are unlike ANYTHING I've ever felt before..."

You sigh. "Which is why I need his help."

"What could you possibly need help with?" Davenport asks disbelievingly. "And how is it that I can sense you now, when I couldn't before?"

You don't answer her questions verbally, opting to join hands with Annabeth.

The hitch in Davenport's breathing, was very telling. She was likely, for the very first time, seeing the full depth of both you and Annabeth combined, the sum of the whole, equalling more than the individual halves.

"What's going on?" Grayson asked with a frown, clearly ill at ease at being in the dark.

"Short version, there's a threat to this city only I can fight. Only I can't fight it alone, because several metahumans in this city are likely compromised," you somewhat explain.

"Why come to us?" Grayson inquired. "And what do you mean, compromised?"

"In revese order; brainwashing, mind control, mental manipulation. And we came to you two, because other than me and Annabeth, you are the only metahuman I am reasonably sure isn't compromised. If I knew of a way to contact you without Davenport, I'd have cut her out completely," you respond with blunt honesty.

Grayson gives you a stern look. "From my point of view, it's sounding more and more like the Justice **** was right about being cautious of you, and this was a ploy to get me alone to do what you just said to me."

The table begins to slightly shake as he calls up his powers once more, ready to attack at even the barest hint of mental manipulation on your part.

Your response is to merely lean back and smirk at him, not making any move to even defend yourself. "That's because YOU are the ONLY one here not in the know."

"Not in the know about what?" His defensive course of action not abating.

"A... Secret society, of sorts, known as the Diviner's Conclave," you tell him.

"Davenport gasps and looks at you in horror. "Y-You can't..."

Annabeth, puts her hand on her wrist in an attempt to sooth the near panicking girl's nerves. "WE, well, YOU can't. But HE can, and, as far as we can tell, HAS to."

Grayson pulls back on his power. "What's going on?"

"That requires the long explanation, which we won't do here. The short of it is, with the exception of Annabeth, those with the power of prophecy, are incapable of using that powers, like some sort of psychic blackout. From what I gather, the effect is centered here, but it's affecting divining psychics- those with a form of second sight, like Annabeth and Ashlynn- as a whole," you explain.

"And how did you get involved in all of this?" Grayson asked skeptically.

"Annabeth and I are, for all intents and purposes, immune," you reply.

"Convenient."

"Not gonna argue or complain about that," You state. "Because I like the fact that my mind is my own and it is pretty damn convenient, if not in the way you're implying."

"What do you mean?" Grayson asks with a frown.

You contemplate, what and how to tell him. "According to a currently reliable source, our immunity is an extension of mine and Annabeth's situation- which is not a coffee shop discussion."

"Currently reliable?" Davenport asks.

"The Prophetess is just as compromised as you are," You inform her. "For now, your minds are your own, but Annabeth and I have no idea how long that will be the case- for reasons we only found out about due to the circumstances of our immunity. It ties into why until today you've not been able to sense me, why Annabeth feels so much different to you now. And with what The Prophetess informed the Conclave when you had your meeting."

"You told him!" Davenport said accusingly to Annabeth.

"Of course I told him," Annabeth shot back, much to Davenport's surprise. "My loyalty to James supercedes my loyalty to the Conclave, which you damn well know since you were there."

"B-But... I-it's just..." Davenport stammered helplessly, as if she couldn't imagine not being loyal to the Diviner's Conclave first and everything else second.

If nothing else, it highlighted why the Conclave as a whole needed to be a separate organization from literally every other entity in the world- and why, if you could not somehow stop the source of The Corruption, you had to destroy them- not a pleasant thought- one that Annabeth was quick to counter with feelings of assurance through your bond.

Grayson sighed in frustration. "I think I'm going to need that long explanation, because I'm way over my head here."

"And you'll get it, provided you submit to an invasive mind scan, which, all things considered, won't be anywhere remotely painless," you inform him.

Grayson raised an eyebrow in surprise. "Looking to get your pound of flesh?"

"That's a side bonus," You reply half jokingly, before sighing and your smirk fading to a more somber expression. "We call it The Corruption."

"You can practically hear the captial letters in that," Davenport comments. You and Annabeth nod in agreement.

"We don't know the source of it, or how it's spread normally, or who else is compromised," You elaborate on the reasons from the need of a mental probe. "But what I AM reasonably sure of, is that I can detect it."

"You felt it in my mind, didn't you, that's how you know I'm... Infected..." Davenport said shamefully.

"No," Your answer, unsurprisingly, surprises both Davenport and Grayson. "I hadn't encountered it yet, so even if it was in your mind then, I wouldn't have known because I wasn't looking for it. As I said, we don't know how it's NORMALLY spread, not that we don't know how it CAN be spread. If you're not compromised now, you will be, because unlike Chris, you can be infected indirectly."

"How come she can, but I can't?" Grayson asked reasonably.

"Mind scan first," you state firmly. "While we believe you to be uninfected, we don't know for sure. I've got a much better handle on my powers now, than when I was working with Mrs. Avery, so I am reasonably sure I won't cause any lasting damage, but I'm not experienced enough to make it painless."

"Not a comforting thought," Grayson tells you.

"It's not meant to be. The risk here is very real and very necessary. Chances are, if something goes wrong, it won't just be you paying the price," You inform him. "The upside is, no matter how much I dislike you, I NEED you. So I will be going through this process as carefully as I can."

"Why me?" Grayson presses once more. "Because I can think of a bunch of people better suited for this."

"Because I don't know if they're compromised. I'm not one hundred percent sure I can detect it, but if I can, I'm far less sure I can neutralize it. You're here, I'm reasonably more sure you aren't infected and you're insanely powerful, if inexperienced, just like me," You state, once more using brutal honesty. As much as neither of you trust each other, you know the both of you are going to have to start- at least a little bit. "With luck, that means we won't be getting hung up on who's calling the shots. As much as I don't trust you, I trust your friends in the Jay-Eff even less, and given the way a Speedster's mind works, I can't get into Swift's mind to check him out, and I can't assume that just because I can't get into his mind, that The Corruption can't affect him. There are a lot of lives at stake here."

"All the more reason to have more experienced eyes on this," Grayson argues.

"I get where you're coming from, but your reasons for wanting them involved are the same ones I DON'T want them involved," You counter. "Annabeth and I are the only two who are immune. Given that your superiors trust me even less than you do, their most probable, if somewhat understandable, actions will more than likely do more to harm than help. And if someone like Tank gets infected? Even if one or the both of us can take him, he's got resources we don't. And I don't fancy potentially fighting the Jay-Eff when they aren't our real enemy."