I don't own the characters, WB and DC do. Please note this takes place a month after the previous chapter. Also, I'm using bits of comic verse canon and 'toon verse canon because I can. Watchers of Teen Titans may recognize someone in here. Soundtrack: Born Stubborn from GITS: Solid State Society.

People could be amazingly stupid sometimes. For instance, robbing a jewelry store (especially in Gotham) was usually not a good idea. Robbing a jewelry store in front of a seven-story building with nice nubby bits on the roof, in a city with a superhero known for his acrophilia? That crossed the line into 'asking to be caught.' Batgirl was, of course, going to help the poor man.

She braced her hands on the ledge and pushed off, somersaulting in the air.

Kick out...one two three-now! Quick glide...

The perp had heard her land, but he wasn't quick enough. The second she landed, she kicked out, becoming visible, sweeping his foot out from under him. He landed heavily, and the wrench he carried landed in the street. She tied him up and then saw the little bag he'd come away with.

"Leave it," Batman said, landing beside them. He checked the ties on their prisoner. "Okay, let's jet. Cops are on their way, and we've got a long night ahead."

The man lay there, stunned as the sirens began to wail. There'd been two Bats.

"Turn your camo on!"The Batman snapped.

"Jeez, cool your jets..." his companion complained.

00

"Slow night?" Wayne asked as the Bat car popped open. Terry slid out, followed by Ro.

"Boss, I need a raise," Terry complained. "She's out of control."

"What are you talking about?" Ro said, "I kicked butt out there."

"Freezing that last guy was overkill," Terry grumbled. "Commissioner Gordon's going to hear about it, and then she's going to go nuclear."

"Hey, I've heard about your stunts, so don't pick on me. And you made me leave my rent behind."

"..What? Ro, those were stolen goods."

She shrugged. "Tomato, tomahto. I'm not stupid. It was nice of you and Wayne to help us out, but nothing's free, right?"

"Go get some sleep," Terry said. "You start school tomorrow."

She stomped off to the 'changing room,' got into her clothes and headed upstairs.

"If you don't hurry, I'll use all the hot water," she called cheerfully.

"And you want to unleash that on Gotham," Terry muttered.

"You're no angel either," Wayne pointed out.

"Wayne, she's going to get killed out there. She spent most of the last month doped on pain pills, she's reckless, and she'll steal anything that isn't nailed down."

"Just be patient with her, Terry. Rosalie has her flaws, but so do you. On that note, don't you have a paper to write?"

"I'm gone. If Mad Stan shows up, make sure Ro doesn't get there first."

00

The problem with strays, as Selina had once said, is that they have kittens. In this case, Wayne reflected gloomily, the 'kittens' had multiplied at an alarming rate. First, there was Max, who'd moved in about six months ago. He'd evicted her four times, but he'd finally given up.

Then Zee and Ro blew in. He'd originally intended to let Terry clean up his own mess, but his old weakness for hard cases kicked in. As a result, he was sitting in the principal's office at Hamilton Hill High, waiting for the sophomore class representative to show up. Someone needed to act as Ro's parent, and God help them both, it looked like he'd been selected for the job.

"Remind me how this is supposed to work?" Ro hissed, smoothing her skirt nervously. She was wearing a calf-length green skirt and a high cut long sleeved blouse. She thought she looked ridiculous- especially with the hair extensions and the gloves. She had bright red hair now, and the disguise worked well enough to fool Casey.

"I got the idea from Poe's Purloined Letter. Have you ever read it?"

"Nope."

"Consider it assigned. After you've read it, you should be able to understand the plan."

"Didn't Zee do a stint as a teacher here?"

"Yes, but Maxine and Terry have informed me that he wasn't very good at it. Can I see your schedule?"

Ro passed the tablet over. Wayne scrolled through it and handed it back. He was a little surprised that she'd been placed in advanced robotics. She'd probably picked up a lot just by being around Zee.

A slightly built young woman breezed in. She was shorter than Ro, dressed in jeans and a cowboy hat, and her long black hair trailed behind her.

"Sorry I'm late," she said breathlessly. "Roxanne Kane, right? I'm Soledad Garcia. And this is...your grandfather?"

The Kane name was another shield. The Kanes had been nearly as rich and powerful as the Waynes.

"I'm her guardian," Wayne said. "Nice to meet you, Miss Garcia. Roxanne, have a good day."

00

Victor Stone sorted out his messages, idly rubbing his prosthetic eye. He'd been on a business trip touring Asian facilities, and had a much-needed tune-up done before coming back to the States. He was now attempting to clear out his message box, and dreading each new message he found. Last March, he'd made the mistake of answering a message- leading to a fun-filled week of magic, explosions, gunfire, and a totally justified hatred of Ian Fleming.

"Stone, this is Bruce Wayne. Would you be willing to come up to Gotham for a while? It's a delicate matter, so I'd prefer that we hammer things out in person. Of course, this will be compensated."

He knew he was probably going to regret this, but he picked up the 'phone anyway. Bruce Wayne was an unlikely customer for Antaeus Clinic's services. He had offered to fix up Bruce's heart long ago, and the refusal had left his ears stinging for days.

"Bruce Wayne, please," he said and waited for the connection to cut in.

Wayne smiled cadaverously. "That was quick. You just got in from Singapore yesterday, didn't you?"

"Wayne, my message board could be seen from space. That usually means something big and ugly's hit the fan."

"Heard about Erie yet?"

"Yeah, Gar told me."

That had been ugly. The NSA had been trying to destroy the synthoids, while half of the League tried to contain them. In the end, some of the synthoids got away, though the League had vaporized dozens of them, and the NSA had to go home and nurse their bruises.

He'd wondered what Batman, Raven and Warhawk had been up to; he'd looked up footage of the fight and noticed that they'd sneaked off during the confusion. It took something pretty dramatic to shake Raven up.

"Eli Selig's son is staying with me. He has a lot of enemies right now. We need your help, Stone. I'd be more specific, but not over an open line."

A little worm of suspicion began to gnaw at Stone. His lines were more secure than Langley.

"Give me a week to clear up my backlog. I'll fly myself in."

"That should give me enough time to make arrangements on my end as well. Do you want me to send McGinnis to pick you up from the airport, or should I let you find your own way?"

"Who's McGinnis?"

"He's my assistant. A gofer, as he puts it."

"Better send the kid; I haven't been in Gotham for ages."

He disconnected. Eli Selig's son, huh? He'd only met the man a couple of times, since their fields were very different, but he knew, through the grapevine, that Selig's daughter had died in a car crash twenty years ago. He hadn't had any other children, and the daughter had been seventeen. Stone grinned as the light dawned.

Just like the old days; a Bat had come up with a hideously complicated plan that was going to cheese off anyone possessing a badge within a hundred-mile radius. He'd have to be a raving lunatic to go along with it. He snickered. No one had ever accused him of being sane.

00

Zee consulted his inner clock. He reluctantly left the cliffs and headed back to the mansion. The mansion and grounds made a spacious jail- but they were still a jail, even if he'd given his parole freely. At least Wayne left his mind alone. There was sun today, unusual for Gotham. The hologram flickered back around him as he walked; black hair, grey eyes, long purple coat, white shirt and black pants.

The most excitement he had these days was playing the stock market. He'd never gotten rid of that factory he bought in Gotham and had a tidy little income from it which he used to buy stocks. He had a few other pieces of property, owned by bogus identities. No one had yet noticed that 'Isaiah Selig' and 'Miranda Nielsen' only existed online.

He'd made it inside before he heard Max's car coming. He heard the thump of their book bags- Max always got herself a snack, while Ro usually went to Wayne's library first. He knew he had to talk to her, but he was strangely reluctant to do so.

"How was your day?" he asked.

"Wayne gave me homework- before the school day even started. Jerk. I think I made a friend, even if she's a bit strange. Her name's Sully Garcia and she's a scream. You'd like her, Zee, she's really smart. The only bad thing was that this senior got in my face at lunch."

She threw herself down on the couch.

"Did you tell Terry?"

"No, I just threatened to rearrange Nash's face if he asked me out again. I got over my 'big and dumb' phase in middle school. What did you do?"

"I spent most of the morning updating the security systems here. Wayne still won't let me secure the chimney or the den. Then I took a walk on the cliffs."

Ro chuckled. Wayne and Zee often sparred over the security upgrades, and Zee wouldn't give up his belief that Santa worked for Interpol.

"What was the 'homework?'" he asked, changing the subject. Anything to stall..

"Wayne wants me to read a story called the Purloined Letter."

"Poe. I wouldn't have thought of that application."

"Zee is something bothering you?" she asked.

"I've come to the conclusion that the NSA will never believe me now, even after Selig's message. So, I've decided to make my own arrangements."

"You're going to just give up?" she asked. "After all we went through?"

"No. There's a way. I've been doing a lot of research on cybernetics lately. Prosthetic bodies are expensive, but Wayne knows a man who specializes in transplants. He'll be coming to Gotham soon."

"Wait, wait, what you mean a 'transplant?"

"Basically, the chips that make up my brain would be put in the new body, and the old one would be sent to Bennett."

"And what happens if Bennett puts another set of chips in?"

"Max and I have been working on that."

"And if the transfer goes wrong somehow?"

"Ro, there's an 80% chance of it working..."

She glared at him and tapped a foot.

"15% chance of being absorbed into the net, 5% chance of total deletion."

"Any chance I can talk you out of it, Tin Man?"

"None. Stone can probably explain the mechanics better than I can- it's his field after all."

She turned on her heel and walked away. "I'll be in the cave for a while. Send Max if you need me topside."

Zee decided that he needed to talk to Max. There was a point where that conversation had gone wrong, but he couldn't figure out why Ro was so upset. Shouldn't she be glad to be free to lead her own life?

00

"So, what did he do now?" Terry asked Ro, from their perch on an old theater.

"He says he wants a prosthetic body and he'll ship the old one to the NSA," Ro said, fuming. "Did you put him up to this?"

Even several rounds with the punching bag hadn't made her bad mood go away. It might not matter to him if he got deleted, but she'd miss him.

"No," Terry said. "I know he's been doing a lot of research on cybernetics lately. That's probably where he got the idea."

"Hey, boss, why didn't you say anything?" Ro asked through the comlink.

"Not my place," Wayne said drily. "I did contact a friend that works in the field, but only after Zeta asked me to. I wasn't aware he had to run it by you. On that note, you two should come in; looks like a fairly quiet night."

"Too bad. I was hoping for a fight," Ro said wistfully.

"How about a friendly match when we get back to the cave?" Terry suggested.

Ro grinned. "Sounds fun."

00

"Is it just me or is Zee acting odd lately?" Terry asked Max. "Well, odder than normal."

Max yawned and turned in the passenger seat. She'd hitched a ride, since her parents were due back in Gotham. It was easier to pretend that she was still living at home than tell the truth.

"I dunno...he's a lot harder to read, but he seems more settled now."

"I guess you heard about his plan."

"Yeah."

"And?"

"It could work. If he's willing to take the chance, I'll help as much as I can."

Terry sighed. "Can't you talk him...no, never mind. If Selig weren't dead, I'd hunt him down and shake him. Why did he have to make Zee so stubborn?"

"I think Bennett and Ro have more influence on Zee then Selig ever did," Max said seriously.

00

Zee booted up the laptop, frowning as the sound of sirens flickered across his hearing. He hated being relegated to the sidelines while his friends risked their lives. They were safe for tonight, but sooner or later their luck might run out.

He quickly found the backdoor to the mainframe, and then hacked into the NSA's website. When had Bennett been fired? Lee would probably have mentioned it, if he'd kept 'talking' to her longer. There was a slim possibility that she might figure out his location, so he'd kept the chats brief.

He'd never had any animosity toward Bennett or the other agents. Until his first solo mission, Zee had been Bennett's officially assigned shadow. He'd come to admire his handler. But Bennett saw him only as a tool, and nothing Zee said or did could change that perception.

Lee was nice; occasionally she'd loan him books on missions, and in the pursuit, she'd even let him get a head start a few times. West was useful as a distraction, and Eastman, like Bennett, was a good opponent. Her only weakness was a tendency to think in straight lines.

Louisa Ruiz, Bennett's replacement, had an impressive record. Zee would have to keep an eye on her. He quickly laid down some virtual trails to keep her and her team busy. They could wear themselves out chasing phantoms while he worked toward his goal.

Zee was tempted to insert a virus that would 'nuke' the NSA's 'net, but he thought better and inserted a small bug that would rewrite the language software instead. Any time someone searched for 'Atlanta,' 'Gotham,' 'Spring City,' 'Baltimore' or 'St. Paul,' the NSA's computers would switch from English to one of eight languages.

Just to be obnoxious, he also added a bit of code that would make virtual cockroaches scurry across the screen when the word processing software was used. The programs would eventually be found and neutralized, but any second the NSA lost was another second of freedom. Then he rerouted his trail. He hoped Agent Ruiz had fun in Idaho.

He wasn't going to run anymore. He had the high ground, the weapons and the will to fight. He'd surrender, eventually, but only on his terms. As a final courtesy, he'd make sure Bennett was the one to bring him in.

Another note: one impression I got from the show is that Zee really looks up to Bennett, and part of him regrets that they ended up as enemies. However, Bennett doesn't feel the same. Your mileage may vary. Reviews?