A/N: I reached 15 reveiws! I'm in my happy place . One important thing: I didn't do any research when I decided she went to Harvard Med school, I now I realize it doesn't fit with her living in NYC, considering Harvard is in...uhm...not NYC. So lets all pretend that I never said Harvard, that I actually said Cornell Med School. I know, I know, its a careless mistake, but I think I'm allowed one seeing as this is my first fic. Oh, before I forget I noticed in the reveiws that a few people asked if I had taken ideas from other books or shows. Anways, for the most part no. The idea behind Equus, her story, her character, her appearance, her weapons, her love of horses, her...well you get the idea, is completley mine. ALL MINE! MWAHAHA! Er...sorry. Anyways, I did take smaller details from other sources. For instance, while I was looking for a good way to kill off the best friend, I watched the House, M.D. episode "Three Stories" in which the lead charcter has an infarction. So the idea for the infarction came from there. Towards the end of the story I might put in a scene that is similar to a scene from the graphic novel and movie "V for Vendetta." And I might possibly have her use her knives like Wolverine's claws (X-men) just because he's awesome. I guess I should mention that I do plan to include more Greek mythology, and while most of it will true (er...a true myth?) I do plan to embelish some of it to fit my story. I won't contradict any myths, I will just take them further. Well...c'est tout (I have my french final tomorrow...scary)
P.S.- the "profrane expression associated with the word 'assume'" that Alfred refers to later on in this chapter is this: when you assume you make an ass of me (or you). Alfred meant it to mean something like "when I assume I make an ass of myself."
P.P.S (or is it P.S.S.?)- I tried REALLY REALLY hard to make Aflred all proper. Please let me know if he said anything out of character, or if there is anyway I could make him better! Thanks.
oneredneckgoddess: To hear you say that you could visualize what I was describing fills me with that warm fuzzy feeling. Seriously, I was having major detail issues in the first chapter because I could see it playing out in my mind and then I just assumed you could too so I would forget to describe what anything looked like. After I post the next chapter, if you feel like I didn't address the Leauguer's response to Equus' story, or want to do it more thoroughly, let me know and I'll see what I can do. I'm not sure if I did, so I left space in the chapter after the next one to embellish their reactions.
AnimeOtakuBara: Thanks! The same goes for you as I posted above: After I post the next chapter, if you feel like I didn't address the Leauguer's response to Equus' story, or want to do it more thoroughly, let me know and I'll see what I can do. I'm not sure if I did, so I left space in the chapter after the next one to embellish their reactions.
balletangel19: I know! I can't imagine loosing my best friend at all...much less how Equus' friend died. I think I could endure the pain if I knew that it would be over in a set amount of time. Not knowing when it would, I don't think I could survive it. As I address in this chapter, Luthor was not watching Equus the whole time. I'm going to start to try answeing questions asked in reveiws by having a League member ask the same question. Let me know if that works out. Thanks again for the continuous reveiws.
the. dead. addict.: I think that line is my favorite too. I wrote it, and then when I reread the chapter I was really surprised with how good it sounded (I have issues with emotional stuff...I either make it comepletly underdone, or make it into some cheesy moment above and beyond all Halmark movies). She lines in NYC and goes to Cornell Medical School (Harvard? Who said Harvard? See my underlined note at the top if you have no idea what I'm talking about). As for why Luthor did not come after her, I'm going to have Batman ask her the same thing so the question is answered in the story. If I didn't answer it completley, let me know. Quick question: Is it tootles ot toodles?
Trickster91: I think Luthor has a major god complex problem, along with his sociopathic and psycotic problems. Yup, Luthor is most definitley a grade 1 jerk. I have read about two pages from the book "A Child Called It" when I happened to pick it up in a bookstore. I had to put it down, it was so sad! Writing Equus' story is a lot easier because I know its fiction, but reading the book and knowing it had actually happened was horrible.
WiccanWitch14: Yesh, your "answer-thingy" was the longest. IN answer to your first question, I'm going to have Superman ask her the same thing in this chapter, but if you feel I didn't answer it completely, just let me know. I have heard of the Dark Angel series, but don't know the plot and have never seen it. Now go take your time out for sticking out your tongue. Or I'll sick Equus on you! -points to corner- (Hehe, your answer-thingy wasn't the longest this time :-PP)
Equus sat quietly, looking down at her hands. The Leaguers sat across from her, and each seemed to be lost in their own thought. There was a silence, a silence neither comfortable nor strained. Equus could hear Alfred bustling in the background; he had left when she had started to talk although she was sure he had heard all of it. Silently, Equus reached into a hidden pocket inside her cape, and pulled out a disk case. She handed it over to Batman. For a second Batman looked startled, then confused. He glanced down at the disk, with barely concealed amazement.
"Is this...is it..." For once the Dark Knight was at a loss for words.
"Everything on the computer hard drives. Most of it was encrypted but I managed to decode almost all of it. There are still several larger files, probably video, that I was unable to decrypt. You might have better luck then me." Equus responded, her voice sounding detached. She sounded annoyed, as if someone had asked her for the time while she was in a hurry. She did not sound sad, or depressed; she just sounded cold.
"Why are you still alive? You have evidence against Luthor, evidence that could send him to jail. He's killed people for less then that. And why didn't you go to the police?" Batman did not mean to interrogate her, but he was curious. He still did not completely believe her story, although he felt himself, almost against his will, trusting her more.
"At first I thought it was because he couldn't find me. He still doesn't know what I look like now; I doubt he would recognize me walking on the streets. He hasn't been spying on me the whole time; otherwise he probably would have struck sooner. He didn't find me until a newspaper put out an article about a mysterious vigilante with a sword and knives who resides in Washington Square Park. He managed to make the connection, and I guess he must have seen Serenity fly me home one of those nights. He didn't strike right away because he was not sure where the disk was. When he realized I had it on me, that was when he grabbed me. As to why I didn't go to police: that would have been naive. Any evidence against him would have been misplaced, or lost, or destroyed. I would have either disappeared before I could testify, or I would be discredited as a little girl with an overactive imagination who wanted some publicity." She finished speaking with disgust dripping from her voice. Batman had to admit, she was probably right about what would have happened to any evidence she had against him.
As Equus moved to hand the disks over, Batman caught a glimpse of dark red blood. There was a trail of it down the back of her right arm; the one that had been bit by Copperhead.
"You're bleeding." He stated the fact, realizing on some level that bleeding was not a good thing, but he was still so shocked by her story that he was unable to connect concern to his statement. It was Alfred who hurried over, and after taking one glance at the shell-shocked League members, he tried to usher her into a separate room he frequently used to patch up Batman.
"Please follow me young miss. I have a fair bit of experience with treating injuries." Alfred beckoned the young girl, motioning that she should follow him. Equus was about to shake her head no, but she knew that the League members needed some time to discuss what they had been told. She realized that they would not feel comfortable talking about her experience in front of her, so with a sigh of resignation she followed Alfred into an adjoining room.
As Alfred moved to remove her cape, Equus took a step forward out of his reach. She then proceeded to do it herself. She first took off her sword and then her cape, and finally the scarf tied around her eyes. They knew who she was, they knew her story, and for once Equus felt that there was nothing to be gained by hiding.
Alfred peered over her shoulder as she undressed, and was having a hard time seeing the wound. In fact, he did not see anything except some blood on the suit, near the back of her shoulder. He thought that if she had gotten hurt there should have been some sort of tear in the fabric, but all he saw was blood.
"Miss, I think you are going to have to change out of your suit. Somehow you managed to injure yourself without damaging your clothing."
"It's a special type of material. The edges of the material attract each other like magnets, so tears close up automatically." She explained automatically. After responding, she pressed a small, almost invisible button on her left hip. Suddenly a clear break in the material was visible, from the nape of her neck down to the bottom of her back.
"The suit is polarized. That's how it repairs itself, and why energy weapons, such as a Green Lantern's ring, won't work on it. You turn off the polarization, and its basically normal clothing." She stepped out of the suit, revealing a black sports bra and black spandex lose-rise capris, like the kinds that bikers or joggers wore. Even in her under garments, she revealed less skin then Wonder Woman's suit.
With her skin exposed, Alfred could easily see the ugly wound on her right shoulder. It was a huge bruise, spanning over the entire back and front of her shoulder. There were two small, yet deep, puncture wounds on the front of her shoulder, but they seemed to be healing well. On the back of her shoulder was a gaping wound, like someone had stabbed her with two jagged knives, twisted them, and then jerked them around causing the two separate wounds to become even bigger and merge into one. Alfred could easily see a long black thread where someone had stitched it up, and the gauze bandage that had been placed over it. The bandage had fallen off, and Alfred watched as the blood-soaked gauze gently floated to the floor. She had torn her stitches and instead of holding the wound closed, the thread hung down her back. Dried blood had caked around the wound, but fresher blood still dripped down her back. It formed a small rivulet, running down her pale skin.
Equus craned her neck around, trying to see the back of her shoulder. In doing so she accidentally pulled at the wound and winced at the twinge of pain. Alfred saw her wince, and quickly pushed her down onto a stool. He walked over to a drawer and pulled out a tray containing a needle, thread, gauze, tape, and a disinfectant. A small tube of cream lay on the tray, next to the gauze.
Alfred walked over the other side of the room and washed his hands, and then pulled on gloves. As he did so, Equus pulled down the right side of her bra, fully exposing the wound. He walked back to her and used the gauze to clean up the worst of blood. The material of her suit had actually kept the wound fairly clean, so he went straight to rinsing out the blood. He picked up the tube of cream, and spread it on her wound and the surrounding skin.
"The cream will numb your skin, so that I may stitch it more comfortably." Alfred commented, slightly disturbed by her unresponsiveness. Alfred continued to work, threading the needle and slowly stitching the wound back together. When he finished, he carefully bandaged her shoulder.
"I understand you have some cracked ribs too, miss. Why don't you turn around and let me have a look. At the very least they need to be re-bandaged." Equus seemed slightly taken aback by his knowledge or her injures. Seeing her confusion, Alfred elaborated, "Master Bruce made sure that any updates logged into the Watchtower computer were sent to his computer here too. That includes logs of all resent missions. I must confess, one does not live with Master Bruce for 40 years without becoming quite curious."
"It's fine, I can do it." Equus said gruffly, not happy at being unable to care for her shoulder injury. She had tried, but it was located just out of her reach, and it would have been impossible to stitch it with only one hand.
"And may I assume that you are completely qualified to do so?"
"I'm in medical school. I could restart your heart and get you breathing again, and I will have no trouble bandaging a cracked rib." She wore the same annoyed expression, but Alfred thought he sensed a slight air of amusement in her response.
"I believe that there is a rather profane expression associated with the word 'assume' that utilizes the buttocks. I does seem however, that such an expression might be particularly well suited in this scenario." Alfred knew that he saw the side of her mouth quirk up at that, and inwardly he congratulated himself.
Equus peeled off the old bandage from her ribs, and proceeded to tape them up with a new one. Suddenly, she felt...something. Like someone in the other room was whispering but she could not make out what they were saying. She recognized the sensation, it happened when a telepath sent out thoughts to someone near her. Years of training from Serenity had allowed her to become far more in-tune to telepathy then most humans. She could not make out what was being said, but only knew that J'onn was telling Alfred something.
Alfred nearly had a heart attack when he heard the deep, level voice of J'onn in his head.
Try and keep her occupied for as long as possible. There is much for us to discuss which would not be acceptable to discuss in front of her.
J'onn felt Alfred's mental nod of agreement, and Alfred turned to Equus.
"Perhaps you would like something to eat or drink when you are done. The kitchen is upstairs, you need only to follow me." Alfred usually brought food down to the cave or dining room, in fact the only people who were ever in the kitchen were himself and the other hired help, but it was the only way he could think of to distract her.
Equus frowned, and was about to shake her head when she made the connection.
"J'onn told you to stall me? So that they have more time to talk alone?" At Alfred's puzzled nod, she continued. "I could sense he was sending you a telepathic message, although I didn't know what he said; I just guessed. Sure, food's fine." Equus stood up, and followed Alfred up the stairs into another wing of the house.
Batman had watched as Alfred led Equus into the other room, and had mentally berated himself for not noticing earlier that she was hurt. Rising to his feet, he walked over and placed the disk into the computer.
"It...can't be true...it just...can't be." Flash said, having finally regained his voice.
"Flash is right. She must be lying, we would have noticed a hundred people disappearing at once." Superman responded, but his voice carried a hint of doubt in it. Wonder Woman and GL looked on silently, but they seemed to agree with Flash.
"Of course. Because nothing bad could happen to anyone as long as you're watching over them." Batman responded sarcastically.
"Bruce, we would have noticed if Luthor was kidnapping anyone, especially that many people." Superman argued.
"Right, because you knew that Luthor was going to kill that scientist, and that reporter, but you decided to wait until their bodies floated up on shore to tell us. Face it, over 2,000 children go missing everyday in the US, but you're to busy saving the world to realize it. The kids and their parents could have gone missing from any state in the US. They could have even come from Canada or other countries. We don't even know how long of a period of time he took them all over. Luthor could have spread it out over a week, a month, a year, or even three years. You can't be everywhere at once, and if you focus on every child that goes missing, then even more will die." Batman glared at Superman while tapping the keyboard impatiently, waiting for the disk to load.
"I do believe she spoke the truth." J'onn said quietly. Everyone turned to look at him.
"I thought you couldn't read her mind?" GL asked.
"Normally she maintains a telepathic barrier around her mind. However, as she spoke she lived through her experience in her mind, and these thoughts, images, and emotions were unconsciously projected for me to see. I could see quite vividly what she was describing, and although another telepath could imagine something that never happened and project it as she did, I do believe that it would be beyond the capabilities of a human or any other non-telepath." J'onn looked as stoic as ever, but underneath his passive expression, there was a hint of remorse.
"Finally." Batman grumbled as the disk loaded. He opened one file, which revealed profiles on several children. Another file showed the cellular break down of the clones. He searched and found the folder containing all the unencrypted files. Glancing at their sizes, he guessed that Equus was right; they were probably video. He double clicked on the largest file and a page of gibberish opened up. He closed the file, and dragged its icon across the screen, finally dropping it inside one of the many decryption programs he had created. This specific one he had created to decode a video file sent to him by the Joker.
For a few seconds nothing happened, and the Leaguers waited with anticipation as the machine hummed. Then there was a slight beep, and the default video player engaged. Without hesitation Batman pressed the "play" button and was completely unprepared for what he saw.