She leapt from the safety of their hiding place and cocked the gun. She fired off two rounds, and one of Penguin's goons fell in a solid heap.
"I'll only say this once," she growled. "Turn yourselves in, or I kill you all."
They didn't think she was serious, and they laughed at her threat. What harm could she pose? Surely they could just take the gun and have her all to themselves. But her warning never needed to have happened, for at that moment an arrow struck down another man. Jason appeared at Cardinal's side, and they spied Arsenal, or Red Arrow, or whoever he was calling himself these days, along with another hero, a woman with strawberry blonde hair wearing a domino mask and a cherry red smile. She pulled out a bow as well, and laid her hand on Red Arrow's cheek. Her hair became the same coppery red that Red Arrow's was, and she let down a rain of well aimed arrows. Cardinal and Robin began hand to hand combat on the other drug dealers, while Red Arrow and the mysterious woman covered them from above. It was only a matter of minutes before the corner was filled with the crumpled, unconscious, and in one case lifeless, bodies of the drug dealers.
Nightwing arrived late, just as the police sirens were starting to fill the air. He looked over at the heap of criminals, tsked himself for not being faster, and saw Red Arrow and the mysterious woman, ignoring Robin and Cardinal. That was fine with them, but took interest at his close attention to the mysterious woman. They wondered who she was.
"Red Arrow and Mimic, it's been too long since I've seen you two." Richard tried to strike up conversation, but Red Arrow lifted his hand to stop.
"You're late, and you haven't bothered calling us about anything, and you missed the boys' last three birthdays." he said, and things clicked into place for Jason.
He remembered where he had heard Oliver Queen and Roy Harper before. Oliver was the Green Arrow, and Roy was at one time Speedy, then Red Arrow. Obviously the mysterious woman was his wife, the woman they had met earlier, Gloria Harper. They were discussing their two boys, Roy Harper the second and Oliver Harper. Jason felt guilty. He hadn't even remembered their identities, when Batman and Robin had been on all kinds of Justice League missions with the two Arrows. Come to think of it, Red Arrow and Batman had even discussed Roy's marriage before. He could have smacked himself for his lack of memory.
"Fine, I'll go. See you all later," Nightwing's irritated voice grabbed his attention once more, noticing Cardinal's sigh of relief as he left.
They approached the two helping heroes, and they walked among the alleyways for a bit, while the police dealt with the scene they left behind.
"So, what brings you two to Gotham, eh, Roy?" Jason decided to let them know he remembered, even though he really hadn't.
"The ball had us come. Ollie made us promise to be there." Red Arrow answered. "I'm just glad he made it a masquerade. How else were we supposed to let the boys miss trick or treating? We sure as hell weren't going to let them do it here. Crime rates are too high around here, no offense."
"None taken. How are those two anyways? I missed their last birthday party." Jason asked.
"They are fine. Oliver had a cold for a while, so it put me out of commission for a while." the woman, Gloria, or Mimic, answered. Jason hadn't noticed it earlier, but her voice had a slight accent to it, like someone who had grown up in a different country, but lived in an English speaking country long enough to translate it to English fluently. He couldn't place the country, though. Embarrassment met his masked face as Cardinal spoke up.
"So how long has it been since you've seen Austria?" she pinned the accent perfectly, given away by Mimic's gasp of delight.
"How did you know where I am from, young Fraulein?" she clapped her hands together, and the accent was so recognizable now. Jason again felt the urge to smack himself. Hadn't Batman taught him all about placing accents and the differences between them?
"The stress on your vowels is still there," Cardinal answered.
"Ah. Well, it's been quite a while. I've no need to be there, when I have all I want or need here, with my family." Mimic took hold of Red Arrow's hand, and he blushed beneath his domino mask.
"And how did you learn to arch so quickly?" Jason asked, curious to see the power in action.
"I take talents and abilities from those I touch, and use them to my advantage. Very simple. Robin, where is your Batman? Does he know you are out here on your own? Should we take you home?"
"No ma'am. Br- Batman has a penthouse on Finger and Fourth that we'll use tonight, then go home in the morning. Have a good night," Jason shook his head. She must be a mother. A good mother, since she cared so much for children who weren't even hers. He was glad his acquaintance Roy had such a good wife on his arm. They saw the two lovers off, then walked back to the corner of Finger and Fourth, where police had been hauling away the criminals. A body bag held one. The sight thrilled Jason, which sickened him to know.
"Why did you shoot him?" Jason asked her in the elevator.
"Because I told you," Cardinal stripped off her mask, revealing cold, calculating, ice blue eyes. "I don't play by the same rules."
For some reason, this made sense to Jason, and he didn't think any more of it. Instead, his attention was brought to the heave of her chest as she took in breath. His fingers shook as he unlocked the penthouse door, and he looked into her eyes. Instead of the coldness he saw there just seconds ago, he saw something else that was just as powerful. He saw lust in its purest form, and it took his breath away. Jason pushed open the door, and he caught her lips in his before they moved inside. He kicked the door closed behind him, which slammed quietly. The automatic locks kicked in as he plundered her mouth with his tongue, swirling it about hers in a dance most erotic.