Downtown Gotham City
Oct. 4th, 2034
3:48 p.m.

Thomas felt his target's body go limp as his fist connected with the left side of the bank robber's jaw, a satisfying crack rang out through the cavernous stone building. Along with the body, the M7 assault rifle clattered to the ground of Gotham National Bank, skittering across the floor toward the group of cowering civilians on the floor. Thomas knelt down, feeling the sting of the already healing wound from the bullet he'd taken to his right shoulder about 20 minutes ago. He quickly worked through the man's pockets, trying to find a scrap of ID, anything that might help McGinnis with his investigation. Finding nothing, not even a manufacturer's label on the light gray jacket, Thomas grabbed the cash bag the unconscious man had been carrying. Spotting a bank staff member Thomas tossed her the bag just as the sirens came within ear shot.

While trying to find his grappling gun on Terry's backup utility belt he address the crowd, who were slowly getting to their collective feet. "Don't worry, you're going to be fine. I've taken down the other six gunmen as well. Batman sent me." Just hearing the vigilante's name seemed to calm the crowd. "Those sirens, however, are my cue to take the back door, but feel free to tell the police anything and everything you saw today."

The bank officer Thomas had tossed the bag too looked up from counting the money as Thomas turned to leave, her attention quickly honing in on the hero of the day. "Thank you!"

Thomas cracked a smile as he opened the door. "Don't mention it ma'am." After a second he turned back around, looking for the janitor he thought he'd seen. "And you might want to get someone upstairs into the men's bathroom. I think I cracked the toilet with a guys face when I came in."

Once in the back alley behind the building Thomas aimed the grappling gun up toward the Gotham rooftop, letting the gun's on-board computer pick the angle for the grappling projectile. A small hiss was the only thing that told him the gun had even fired before he was quickly yanked up to the roof opposite the bank. Holstering the grappler along the side of the belt, he couldn't remember which pocket it was supposed to go in, he heard Batman land ahead of him.

"Any ID on the robbers?" Terry's voice was so much similar to Damien's, yet carried so much more emotion, that it was unnerving to Thomas.

"Nope. No tattoos, serial chips on the guns cleanly removed, hell they didn't even have any clothing labels. Definitely professionally outfitted, if not very well trained in hand-to-hand. I assume you found a big wad of nothing on your end as well?" Thomas watched as his answer made Terry shake his head, something that seemed plain odd for a guy wearing a Batsuit. "You're intel was dead on though, a crew of seven, all carrying top of the line military rifles, using the exact deployment tactics you said they would." He watched Terry taking the information, clearly trying to think through the puzzle. "So why'd you call me instead of Red or Nightwing?" Terry's silence spoke volumes. "You don't want to have to get them involved. Look, I get it. It's a lot of pressure, being out here solo. Hell, you think you can take on the world, especially in that suit, but the fact is, Nightwing has way more contacts, and experience on the streets, than either of us put together. You should loop him in."

Thomas heard the whine of the Batsuit's boosters kick on just before Terry replied. "I'll think about it."

He watched as Terry soared off along the rooftops. "Well that was suitable Batman-y."

Now that the conversation was done Thomas found the corner air ventilation shaft that he'd asked Iris to drop his backpack. Having a whole team of young speedsters, even if their mom wouldn't let them near active engagements, certainly made running covert operations much easier. He easily popped the aluminum casing off the vent and found the faded red bag he borrowed from Oliver, and quick changed into the civilian clothes, denim jeans, a simple grey hoodie and a black baseball hat, before heading for the door to the stairwell down in the apartment building below.

As he left the apartment building through the front door, he saw the bank to his left, surrounded by cop cars and ambulances. Cops were corralling the hostages along the wall while the paramedics checked on the unconscious robbers. Seeing the authorities actually had things well in hand he turned away from the bank and headed deeper into downtown. Looking around as he walked, Thomas noticed how different Gotham looked than the last time he'd walked around the city during the day, over 13 years ago. The old brick and stone buildings were far fewer than he remembered, the cityscape dotted with many more skyscrapers and hotels. The old buildings that were still standing, didn't look as run down as they used to be. He thought back to the time Clark had told him how Gotham had turned itself around, ever so briefly, when Thomas and Martha Wayne died. Maybe Gotham finally got it's shit together when Bruce disappeared, he thought morbidly.

Ten minutes of walking later and he'd reached his destination, Wayne Industries headquarters. Walking past the security desk he swiped the security badge that Dick had gotten for him. Seeing the line for the elevator, Thomas opted for the stairs. Taking advantage of the lack of cameras, something Dick had insisted on to the security team, Thomas went full tilt up the stairs, easily knocking out the first dozen floors in only a minute or two, passing the next dozen just as fast. At the top of the tower, floor 36, Thomas took the door to the main lobby, grabbing the attention of Dick's secretary, someone he instantly recognized.

"Well I'll be damned, hello Miss Brown."

Hearing her name, the blonde woman looked up from her desk. But she seemed confused when he approached. "Something I can help you with, sir?"

Then Thomas remembered the last time they'd talked. "Right, I had a beard last time we met. Well, that and I've 'dead' for going on thirteen years now."

"Holy crap." Realization dawned on the former Batgirl. A ding at the elevator cut the reunion short. Just as quickly as Stephanie realized who he was, she turned on the professional exterior as some men in suits exited the elevator. "Is Mr. Grayson expecting you? I don't seem to have you on his agenda for the day."

Thomas leaned against the counter, sharing a knowing look with his old acquaintance. "Probably not. But I believe if you tell him that his 'security consultant' needs to speak with him that he'll make it work."

The intercom buzz interrupted the conversation, followed with Dick's voice. "You can send Mr. Jackson in Stephanie, I've got some time. Please clear my schedule for the rest of the day, this could take a while. I'll return any urgent documents and phone calls before the start of the day tomorrow if I can. Thanks."

"Well, it was nice seeing you again Ms. Brown."

Stephanie smiled as she gestured toward the door to Dick's office. "And you too Mr. Jackson."

Thomas had been expecting Dick to be buried in a mountain of paperwork from the way he described running Wayne Industries, but he didn't think he'd find an empty office with the lights turned off.

"Dick?" He called out, confused why his friend would answer on the intercom but not be in his office.

Dick's voice crackled through a speaker in the ceiling. "Don't freak out. You're on camera. Head to my desk, there's a photo I think you might recognize in the back of the middle drawer."

Thomas did as he was told, sliding out the middle drawer of Thomas Wayne's old walnut desk, something Dick had kept in the office, even if a Wayne wasn't running the company. Nestled in the back, just like Dick had said it would be, was a silver framed portrait. Not a digitally displayed photo, which seemed to have finally gotten over the hump while he was asleep, this one was old, taken back in the team's early days, back when Dick was still sporting the red, yellow and green as Robin.

"You know, I remember Dinah was about ready to kill Wally by the time she snapped this photo."

"Yeah, that was one of his prouder moments. Flip over the photo and hold your hand on the back plate."

Again Thomas did as he was told, only slightly surprised when the frame lit up blue, the light traveling down his hand, indicating it was being scanned. As soon as it was finished, the bookshelf opposite the door popped back, drawing Thomas' attention. As it slid to the side, he saw the elevator, no doubt something Lucius Fox himself had installed.

"How very James Bond of you."

"I do what I can. I'll see in a few seconds."

Thomas stepped into the elevator, checking out his reflection on all four sides thanks to the reflective metal on each panel. Damn thing's probably almost nuclear hardened, he thought as he felt the bottom drop out from under him as soon as the doors closed, the express elevator definitely earning its name as it raced to the bottom. True to what Dick said, within seconds he felt the elevator slow and finally once it hit bottom. The doors split apart and he walked out into the the old Wayne Tech nuclear bunker that Bruce had retrofitted all those years ago.

Spying his friend up at the main computer bank, Thomas headed straight for him. "I see you got the old Alpha Site back online since I went under."

Dick nodded as he kept working, punching commands on the console. "Yeah, Checkmate sure did a number on this place. Thankfully, during the purge Waller 'confirmed' that the place was all but dust without any troops coming down to confirm the report." Suddenly, the two screens in front of the pair switched to video call displays, each showing a different person: Oliver Queen on the left, and Clark Kent on the right.

"Well ain't your Kryptonian ass a sight for sore eyes!" Oliver was positively ecstatic at the sight of his friend.

Clark let out a hearty laugh. "It's good to see you too, Oliver. Sorry I haven't swung by the cave. I can't believe I'm saying this, but Luthor and I are rebuilding a small Fortress, as well as Jor-El." Thomas could see Clark try not to stare at Oliver missing arm. "And Lex has something for you. He says, and I quote, 'Don't tell Queen I said this, but QI certainly had a good design with this one."

Dick stood up from his chair. "Has Lex agreed to the plan?"

Clark nodded. "He has. Not exactly too pleased about it, but he agreed it's the only way to do things if we don't want guaranteed bloodshed." Now it was Clark's turn to question. "Have you got the communications protocol sorted for the full team?"

Dick was slow to answer. "I think so. All the old JL freqs are burnt, but Bats and I's old sat-com system should be able to handle to the load of the extra comm traffic."

Thomas crossed his arms behind Dick. "Sure would be nice to have a telepath on the team. Would be one less thing to worry about when the fighting starts."

Dick turned his head back toward Thomas at the mention of a telepath, turning quickly to bring up multiple files. Thomas, as well as Clark and Oliver, was confused.

"What, something I said?"

Dick held up a finger to silence his friend, but he got no further in his mysterious search as the screen to the left started flashing red, a silent alarm going off. Through his video screen Oliver saw the flashing pulse on their faces.

"Something going on?"

Dick's brow was furrowed as he studied the display, switching between multiple underwater camera angles. "Something, or someone tripped the old Atlantean comm buoy out in the bay." Suddenly his eyes shot wide and he turned back to face Clark and Oliver. "You guys are not going to believe what out's in the bay right now."

Thomas looked over and saw what Dick had seen. "I'll give you guys a hint. He looks pissed, is leading an army of warriors, has a hook for a hand, and has a blonde beard that could Oliver a run for his money."

Oliver fist pumped. "Hell. Yes." He pointed at Thomas and then Clark. "Looks like you two don't have a monopoly on coming back from the dead; Arthur Curry's back in the game."


A/N: If you're curious about the purge that was mentioned, check out Sigma Squad and The Outsiders, which are two more stories set in this continuity. Please review!