Star City
September 29, 19:55
"Werner…" the king said through clenched teeth.
Out of the corner of my eye, I could see him shake and tremble. The betrayal hit way harder than I expected.
For me, all this had been clinical. Save the king, get him to believe his brother actually tried to kill him and his own niece, and then use that to dig a deeper hole for The Light.
None of the scenes I anticipated detailed dealing with a man who had had his whole world flipped upside down.
On the screen, Arrow pressed a hand on his chest and activated a device that counteracted the vertigo waves before proceeding to take down the man blasting him with said waves. However my attention wasn't on that. The operation had come to an end in any case.
"I'm sorry your highness."
My voice seemingly pierced through the storm of emotions that clouded King Josef. He blinked and looked down at where he'd struck the screen. There was no crack or any damage for that matter, but the reality of what he'd done probably came rushing back.
He lifted his hand—still trembling—and nursed it, exhaling audibly. "I should be the one apologizing Mr. Rath. Not only did I call you a liar, I have behaved in an unsightly manner. I am sorry."
"Apology accepted, your highness."
"Thank you," he said and panned his gaze across the room, moving from me to Batman. "Not just for this but for saving my life and that of my daughter, and also opening my eyes. Whatever you need to me do, you need just ask."
Batman and I shared a look. "Your highness, am I right in assuming you're going to revoke your brother's diplomatic immunity."
"You are. Werner must pay for his crimes, and he will."
"Okay. This may sound counterproductive to what we're doing here but can you hold off on that?"
King Josef and his guards looked at me with collective confusion.
"Your brother did not work alone. In fact, he is part of a group of individuals involved in a lot more than… this. We don't know what, but they are planning something in the coming days and my organisation and the Justice League want to work hand in hand to get them all in one swoop."
"What are you suggesting Mr. Rath?"
"We need you to delay the announcement about your survival and the revocation of your brother's protected status," Batman answered in my stead.
The king exhaled and contemplated silently. "How long do I have to do this?"
Another look went between the dark knight and myself before I answered. "No more than three days. I am confident we can wrap everything up within this timeframe."
The king thought over it for a moment and gave us his answer. "I will take your word for it Mr. Rath. If anything, I can spend the days with my Perdita as a mini vacation while she recovers."
He went for a handshake, moving from me to Batman. "Thank you once again."
"No need sir. Just doing our jobs."
By the time he let go of Batman's gloved hand, I had a portal waiting and ready for him and his entourage. There were no questions or doubts. He just gave me a nod and walked into it, his guards quietly following suit.
In order to keep his survival on the down low as much as possible, we'd resorted to my portals and zeta tech to move him and his daughter around. As a matter of fact, it was a portal that brought all of us here from the restricted hospital wing where his daughter was being prepped for her surgery.
And now this portal sent him straight back there. Just in time for the surgery to start.
"~Whew!" I released a breath I didn't know I'd been holding. "Didn't expect to feel bad for the guy. Maybe all this Light chasing has given me a severe case of tunnel vision."
Normally, talk like this was reserved for someone or people who were willing to engage in other discussions apart from "shop talk." Not someone like Batman, who talked about the mission and its related parts and nothing else.
However, since the hero himself had a doggedness to him as well, I held slight hope he'd understand and even offer some insight. Because his whole motto read "the mission first, everything second."
"Tunnel vision is good," he said, surprising me despite the slight hope I held out. "Your insistence of seeing The Light for what they are and going after them accordingly is the only reason we've gotten this close to stopping them. However, tunnel vision is still tunnel vision. The intense focus it grants blinds you to everything else. In such cases, I find that having people around you instead of going at things alone, helps."
"Rigghhhhttt… kinda like you're here right now."
"...."
Alright. Too mushy? Moving on then.
"Deathstroke is moving like we predicted," I said and changed the subject, bringing up the map and highlighting the black and orange dot representative of his location. "Per the janitor's feedback and the communications between Miss Faulkner and Lex's pawn, the theft should be happening tomorrow in the evening. Sometime after 4:00 pm."
"And the targets?"
"Already switched. They are the most genuine fakes I've ever seen. I should know, I made them. Not even the good scientist keeping tabs on the marks can spot the differences."
That explanation was good enough for the Bat, so he moved on to the next topic. "The janitor's son."
"I have an agent with him in a secure location. The Life Model Decoy with the kidnappers is also in good condition. No injuries or maltreatment. They are keeping him well fed. Unfortunately for them, the decoy is also bringing in a ton of information and evidence. We have more than enough to get Lex behind bars for a long time."
"And you're sure they have no idea of its real nature?"
"Nope. I could have easily managed it with pure technology, but with the inclusion of magic? They can put it through a whole battery of tests, and they will find exactly what they expect."
"The upcoming attack…"
"Gigantic plant monsters. That's what I remember."
"That lines up with the unusual movements of Poison Ivy and the Joker."
Unusual meaning they had vanished off the face of the planet.
"They won't be the only ones. Black Adam and Wotan will be there as well. That's why I'll be joining the team for this one while you guys deal with the plants all over the globe."
"...IF it is plants."
"Right, if. The Light may have changed their minds and cooked up something much worse. Good thing the helicarrier is finally up and running. We'll be ready for any bullshit they pull."
.
.
.
.
Bludhaven
October 1, 16:00
Every single day, I ensured my schedule stayed clean enough that nothing would get in the way of me picking up Cassandra from school. In the case where a project or some experiment had tied me up, I always stopped at whatever point I'd reached and made my way here.
It was unsustainable, I know, but I wanted to do this consistently for as many times as I could. Because there would certainly be cases in the future where I wouldn't be able to make it and pick her up.
Mike and Felicity were easy alternatives in those situations, so I had nothing to worry about.
Today when I arrived at the school, the grounds outside of it were littered with kids as usual. Despite their sheer number, I spotted Cass instantly and the only reason she hadn't run to join me in the car was because I didn't let her know I'd arrived.
How could I, when I found her engaged in conversation with a group of friends using a mix of sign and verbal language. All the other times I came to pick her up, she either stood by her lonesome, stood together with other kids but in utter silence, or stood waiting near the spot I usually parked.
I didn't even need to compare these previous situations to know this was a good thing. So I let her be and waited, rechecking the plan for date night with Felicity. It looked more and more unlikely by the minute.
Today was a Friday, and it also happened to be the day The Light would kick off their attack. Deathstroke's upcoming theft and surveillance data on Queen Bee, and Lex's moles all supported this.
The black and orange clad assassin would likely initiate the theft during the attack, using the chaos as an extra layer of subterfuge and protection. There'd be no League member to intervene because all the attention would be on stopping the plants.
A not so insignificant part of me was confident in Shield and the League's combined ability to beat back The Light and end their foolish ploy quickly enough for me to have at least, some few minutes before date night.
But I had learned many times about the universe pulling a fast one when you had your own plan of how something was supposed to go or when you least expected it. So did I call Felicity and inform her now or wait for the actual shit to hit the fan?
"To call or not to call…" I muttered and stared at my watch.
For no reason whatsoever, I felt the urge to look up. When I did, I found myself at the end of a little girl's finger. One of Cassandra's friends had noticed me and had pointed in my direction.
Another of the girls prompted her friend that I was watching them and the girl put her hand down like she'd be caught chopping her doll to little pieces. The third, more brave girl waved at me and I gave her a small wave back, utterly confused as to what the protocol is here.
Cassandra signed to the girl, bid the others goodbye and rushed to the car. Meanwhile I dreaded inwardly what to say to her about her friends. Did I even bring them up or do I skip it and or go to our normal daily conversations like that didn't happen at all?
Man, I need to read more books on parenting. People have raised kids since the concept of parenthood existed. Someone HAD TO have figured this shit out.
"Hi," Cass offered while getting into the front seat.
"Hi," I responded while she put on her seatbelt. "So friends huh."
Good god why did I say that. Now it sounds like I didn't have enough faith in her to make friends.
"They're nice."
"Hm… how so?"
"Janine and Maya are like me," she said, before switching to sign language. "They also don't know what to do. So we formed a group. Elsie joined two days ago. She asked about my scars."
Wow. What do I even say to this? Wait. She said they also don't know what to do. Could this be…
"Wait. Is this about what the teachers said? To think about what career you want to pursue?"
She nodded. "Not Elsie. She wants to be an actress."
Huh. "Did she tell you why?"
Cass shook her head. "But she asked if I was like her."
"As in?"
Cassandra gestured at her neck and the scar there. "She asked if I lost my voice and learned sign language because of it. I think she wants to know if she can get her voice back."
Well… "Did she ask you that?"
"No. But she told me everything with her body."
Right. Sometimes I forget my daughter can read people like a book. Consequences of wanting her to have a normal life I guess.
"Can we give her the same thing you gave me?" she asked, this time looking at me.
"Soon," I wasn't going to tell her no. Come on. What kind of example am I setting? That we don't help people when we can? "That's what this is going to be…" I pointed at the construction site of the hospital I had commissioned.
"The hospital?"
"Yes," I said, giving the reporters taking pictures and video of the genomorphs and humans working together a passing glance. Their numbers had thinned compared to before, but it seems the world still needed to wrap their minds around non-humans working with us. Not that I blamed them.
"When it's done, she can come here for a diagnosis and then a solution tailored to her specifically. All free of charge. Though her parents will need to be involved and they can donate if they want to."
"You're helping many others… like you helped me."
"That's the idea."
"I think… I know what I want to do."
"Oh… wait, you want to be like me? Do what I do?"
I had never been so happy to see Cassandra shake her head. And the intensity of my reaction caught my attention and brought forth questions, questions I didn't want to entertain at this moment.
"Doctor. I want to be a doctor in the hospital."
Is this feeling the equivalent of Asian parent heaven? It had to be.
"Cassandara, you have no idea how happy I am, but may I ask why?"
"Mama. My old mama…" she said, and I swear I saw her expression going from placid to satisfaction for a brief moment. "She will hate it."
Now I definitely have to keep my promise to show Shiva highlights from Cassandra's life.
"That I have no doubt of. Instead of taking lives, you'll be saving them," I broke into a laugh. "Ha. Poetic justice. Though I'm not sure I'm using that term right."
Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed Cassandra's expression improve and stay that way. The corner of her lips even curled up a bit.
The ride home unfortunately came to an end. I pulled up in the apartment building's parking lot, killed the engine when the car entered the spot reserved for me and disembarked with Cassandra.
Living on Providence was all fine and dandy, but too much of something that good and nice would turn stale if you took in too much of it at once. Of course, maintaining a sense of normalcy in not just our lives but Cassandra's now that she attends school was one of the deciding factors in moving to this place.
The other reason was the fact that I owned the apartment building. I bought it when I first moved to Bludhaven and had it renovated. The overhaul had been completed about a month ago, just in time for school to start.
While walking in step with Cass, I checked the time and my empty message log, huffing at the budding sense of unease. Gently, I threw my hand around Cass' neck and she looked up, leaning into me.
We unlocked the security doors into the building with my access card and walked in. The back of my head began to tingle as soon we crossed the threshold into the building. I froze where I stood and spun, catching the door before it closed.
"Wait here," I said to the confused girl before rushing outside.
My watch started blowing up with the messages and notifications I'd been waiting for, but I spared it no glance. Instead I cranked my neck to get a better look at the massive green stalk that towered over most of the skyscrapers and havoc it'd begun to wreak.
Red buds dotted its surface and coiling vines unfurled from it, the green appendages lashing about and tearing through buildings like cardboard.
"Those assholes actually did it."
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