CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

"Anonymous Source"

Over the next hour, away from the action of everything else, Dick, Jason, Red Robin and Batman, talked privately in the back alley where they couldn't be heard. Jason smashed the secret camera "Boss" Hogg had installed before they got started, explaining to the others how Hogg and Joker had installed secret cameras through the club to spy on people apart from the main CCTV. The camera didn't work anymore, but smashing it made Jason feel good.

They collectively pooled all their information and now everyone had the big picture of what actually happened within the nightclub, and they all came to the same conclusion—that this Jacques (Jack) Filou had to be stopped. Now that they had a working name, they could potentially connect him to the Freeze and Scarecrow capers in recent weeks. But a name was just a name. Joker's admission that he had transferred all the money stolen from the club into supposedly untraceable numbered accounts, information revealed by Jason, was a done deal. It was unretrievable. Tim had the knowhow to possibly use that data to get some sort of trace, however, that would've been only possible if Jason's EMP grenade hadn't wiped out every hard dive at the club.

"Oops!" Jason shrugged after Tim revealed that. "I had no idea. Maybe Joker can shed more light on the guy?"

"We're going to have to re-interrogate Freeze, Crane, and Joker at Arkham Asylum," Red Robin said, "and get the low down on Jacques (Jack) Filou; there has to be some information on this guy, no one is a complete Ghost." The term "Ghost" was used by the Bat Family for someone without an identity until one could be affirmed. "Let's just call him The Mastermind, at this point. I need at least a working term to call this guy for the dossier write-up."

"Sounds good," Dick confirmed. Dick elbowed Jason. "So, you and Clare Cassidy, eh? I remember hearing some of the Floor Servers call her 'Butch', as in Butch Cassidy. Does that make you the Sundance Kid?" He laughed.

"After what I saw on the dance floor, I wouldn't go mocking others, Dick," Jason said with a smirk. "You know how some people think they can dance? Well, you put even the worse of them to shame."

Dick's jaw dropped. "Hey, Barbara thinks I'm a great dancer. Granted, I'm good at the Waltz and the Tango. Not so much on free-style. I just hope no one recognized me out there."

Jason took out his cell phone. "One click, Dick, one click, and your painful dancing is all over the net. I managed to get a small video of it. It's quite funny, you look like a fish out of water."

"Mind sending me that, Jason?" Tim asked, with a crooked smile. "I'd love to watch it.

"No!" Dick protested.

"I was thinking of making it into a gif and posting it on my Instagram account," Jason said with a laugh.

Dick wigged a finger. "Oh, Thunder Thighs…We need to talk for a moment." He drew Jason away from the others, and said they'll be right back; secret talk. Dick hauled Jason to the furthest part of the alley, literally grabbing his rolled up shirt sleeve. Jason had changed out of his Red Hood costume before the police came and put everything back in the trunk of Dick's Sedan, and then retrieved his suit shirt in his locker since his uniform shirt had been torn. Now it felt like Dick's grip was ripping his only good shirt.

He swatted Dick's hand away when they were alone and out of earshot now.

"Hey Jay, we're both adults here, so I believe we can come to a mutual understanding on things."

"What things?"

Dick put an arm around Jason's shoulders, sounding sly. "You do realize that when you erase a computer datafile it doesn't necessarily get erased unless its overridden by something else, right? Say, a CCTV video file?"

Jason's eyes widened, he gasped. He knew exactly what Dick referred to immediately. "You don't mean…"

"Yup, I was on the Batcomputer a week back, data pushing—Tim's not the only tech-savvy one; although he's better at it than I am—and a message popped up the screen from the Batcomputer asking if I would like to repair a fragmented data stream? Intrigued, I inquired about. It said you deleted a video file, but it was still in retrieval, you hadn't completed full deletion. So, I retrieved it and reinitialized it."

Jason growled under his breath. "Damn you, Dick! What happened was between Roy and me, that's none of your business!" he said it threatening-like but with also a quiet enough tone for only the two of them could hear.

"It was quite interesting," he smirked. "You get rid of that video in your phone and I'll forget about the CCTV footage."

"That's blackmail," he said angrily.

"Yup, plain and simple," Dick replied. "Give me your phone." Jason handed it over and Dick viewed the video. Jason was right, it was embarrassing; it like he was having a seizure. He mentioned if Barbara ever saw this it would be like her finding him in that striptease club all over again, only worse. She would never go dancing with him again. He had to get rid of it. He deleted it. "Done, and done," he concluded. "My lips are sealed about you and Roy."

"He came onto me," Jason defended. "He kissed me!"

"And Paul kissed me. Who cares!"

"Then why were you so adamant about that video? It wasn't so bad. You've been videoed and photographed in even worse compromising positions. You've even been on Gotham City TV with your costume nearly ripped to sheds after tangling with a villain, and that didn't bother you, even when half your naked butt was showing." Then Jason scowled, as if coming to a sudden realization. "You tricked me! You never saw the video."

Dick smirked. "Oh, but isn't it funny how you just told me openly about you and Roy as if you wanted to get it off your chest? So, you kissed Roy Harper—who cares. Like I say, we're adults. Our lives are our own. We're not screwed up, we just like to enjoy life. You never know what could open up other possibilities."

Jason growled. "You lying turd—you did see the video? Those were Roy's exact words!"

"Ah…guys? I don't know what you talking about clandestine-like, but it looks like we have a problem here," Red Robin said, and both Dick and Jason looked at him. The teen was using his "wrist watch" device to project what he said was a media report. "G-TMZ already has the story on the nightclub. That was fast! And it doesn't sound good…they're literally connecting your friend Paul with the Joker, saying he was his partner in this whole scheme. There's been a leak, and they claim to have inside information from an anonymous source. But there's no way any of the clubbers could've known what was really going on." Red Robin looked up from the device. "A staff member? Maybe a cop?"

Everyone gathered around the device, Red Robin turned up the sound.

The first part of the news report was missed, but Red Robin reviewed the feed for the others, he had that ability. It wasn't the best journalism, G-TMZ was a tabloid site, but it had millions of followers. Even outside of Gotham.

They listened: The G-TMZ reporter announced his name, then: "Breaking News from G-TMZ! Shocking News! Revelations by an anonymous source has revealed claims that former Officer Paul Hudson of the Bludhaven Police Department was in league with the super criminal known as the Joker, most renown to reside in Gotham City, staging a super-secret sinister plot to steal millions from the fare-minded citizens of Bludhaven, our sister-city across the river—the story broke only minutes ago. The owner, Paul Hudson, along with the Joker, concocted a devious plan of mischief and mayhem, putting thousands of Bludhaveners in jeopardy for what appeared to be a five year time span, using a special mind control gas to bring people back to his nightclub, called The Awakening, with all appearances of it being a ligament night and dance club, repeatedly brainwashing patrons…"

Dick swore. "How the hell did this get out?" Tim hushed him. Dick didn't take offence.

The reporter continued: "Bludhaven police are currently at the club with SWAT and the bomb squad, and they've taken into custody several staff who work at the club, who are suspected of being associated with the plot. Police have arrested both the Joker and his lady femme fatale, Harley Quinn, with the aid of Batman and others. It is unknown at this time the whereabouts of Paul Hudson, whom the Bludhaven Police Department are now condemning and branding a criminal. You heard it here first, folks. This is—"

But before the journalist could say his name again to end the flash segment, Dick Grayson's cell phone rang, startling him. He had been so focused on the segment that his ring tone sounded like it was the loudest thing in the world. He had been told he had switched off his phone after he told off Bruce as he was on his way to the club with Tim and Damian, but he was under the influence of the Happy Gas, so it wasn't his fault. It was a good thing, too, otherwise it would've been fired along with every other electronic device that had been left on when Jason—the Red Hood—threw the EMP grenade into the crowd that foiled Joker's plot to blow up the nightclub. He had switched it on soon after he awoke in the lounge.

He answered it, but before he could get a word out, an anxious voice said: "Is this Mr. Dick Grayson?" Dick quickly answered "Yes". "This is Sgt. Brankon Loe from the Bludhaven Police Department, here at the nightclub. Your phone number was given to me. You need to come quickly, sir. Mr. Hudson has barricaded himself inside one of the private guest lounges. He just attacked another officer and stole his gun! And he's threatening to kill himself."

x x x

Dick asked where the Sergeant was located and the officer told him.

With the others in tow, Dick ran faster than he ever thought he had run before, straight to the private guest lounge. When he arrived, he found several police officers had surrounded the area in the hallway, guns drawn. One officer stopped him, saying that it was a danger zone and he had to turn back. But as soon as Dick announced himself, Sgt. Brankon Loe immediately went to him.

"Mr. Grayson, he's asked for you, and only you," the officer said, observing Batman and the others. Loe's eyes cast away from Batman the moment he saw him, the caped crusader looked menacing. The Bludhaven police were obviously not used to seeing him.

Dick passed through the armed officers and stood at the lounge door which was locked. The officer gave Dick the lowdown on everything that had transpired: "He was fine up until a few minutes ago, then Mr. Hudson went berserk. He attacked an officer, grabbed his gun, and then locked himself inside here. He refuses to let anyone in. He demanded that he speak to you. Said you were the only person who would understand."

"It probably as something to do with the breaking news flash segment that just aired on G-TMZ," Jason remarked. "They accuse Paul in being in cahoots with Joker from day one."

"When did this air?" Sgt. Loe asked.

"Just a few minutes ago, and just before you called."

Dick put a hand to his face hoping that was not the case, but he feared the worse, and knowing how connected Paul was, it was a sure bet he had watched that segment in real time. And knowing how emotional his friend was right now with everything that had happened, he needed to get to Paul fast.

He rapped on the lounge door, said: "Paul, he's me—Dick. Can I come in?"

There was a pause, then the door clicked. "Only you, or I'll start shooting!" Paul said loudly. Dick turned the handle slowly, opened the door the same. It was then he saw Paul Hudson had an arm fully extended with the stolen officer's gun pointed directly at him. "Shut the door, now! And lock it. No one else gets in!" Dick followed his orders, then he put his hands up. "Dick, I'm ruined! G-TMZ accuses me of being Joker's willing partner."

"I know," Dick said calmly, as he focused on Paul, less on the gun. It wasn't the first time he had had a gun or a greater weapon pointed at his face. "Paul, please put the gun down. Let's talk about this, okay?"

Paul shook his head quickly. "No, it's all over. I'm finished. The club, my dream—is gone! That bastard not only took it away from me, but my entire life, too! G-TMZ says the BPD are also branding me a criminal. Is that really true?"

"You know that's not true, they would never say that. The police are always neutral."

"Not this time, my phone has been ringing off the hook, texts flooding in, and every message forum I go to—they're all saying the same thing…that I'm a criminal. My life is over, Dick!" Dick saw Paul's phone in pieces on the floor next to the wall. He had obviously thrown it in anger and frustration and it had smashed on impact.

Then Paul pointed the gun to his head.

"No, it's not!" Dick said strongly, gasping, his hands shaking slightly, reacting to Paul's unstable response. "You—We—can get through this. You just have to tell your side of the story."

"It's too late for that, Dick. You know the world today, you're guilty until proven innocent on social media. And even when your day in court comes and you're exonerated, it's nothing but a small blurb in the news, less than a segment for maybe thirty-seconds, and only shown once. What people remember most is the negative press. There is no such thing as partisan journalism anymore, it's either Leftwing or Rightwing. And it's all hate news."

Dick thought quickly. He needed to calm his friend down before he did something rash. And by the sound of the unstable tone of his friend, he needed to do something fast. "We'll fix it, we'll demand a retraction from G-TMZ. It's nothing but tabloid journalism anyway, they've gotten stories wrong before. Hundreds of sites cite wrong news. You can't believe G-TMZ because everyone here knows the truth. And I'll be right up front and centre to tell it. I'll demand G-TMZ retract their story and I'll go after every other outlet who tries to run with their lies and threats major legal action. You know I can. Bruce Wayne and I go way back, remember?"

Paul's hand was shaking, he was a quiet, thinking. But Dick was telling the truth and he knew he would have Bruce to back him up fully, along with all his money and a topnotch legal team. Dick lowered his arms. "I know you won't shoot me, Paul. We've been friends for too long. I know you. And you trusted me to be the first when you came out. If you can't trust me now, then shoot me. But if you do trust me, please, lower the gun, we'll talk—just the two of us!"

Paul's eyes squinted, and suddenly tears fell down his cheeks. He lowered the gun. "I'm in big trouble, aren't I? I assaulted a police officer and stole his gun," he said, as Dick approached him. "I'm going to jail, aren't I?" Without warning, Dick reached out and hugged Paul like a bear, his arms wrapped around his shoulders, holding him tight, similar to what Paul did to Dick in the rear parking lot when he and Jason first arrived.

Paul dropped the gun and then began to cry on Dick's shoulder.

"We'll get through this together buddy," Dick said. "I'll talk with the police and straighten things out."

"I love you, Dick Grayson."

"I know, I heard you. I must've just been coming back to consciousness then, but I heard you." Dick released the hug, looked into Paul's teary eyes. "If I were gay, you'd be my first choice." He smiled.

Paul smiled, then laughed, and sniffled. "I know procedure, Dick. I'm going to need to be handcuffed," he said.

Dick nodded, then picked up the gun, pocked it, and then went to the door. He unlocked it, and opened it slowly, sticking his head out. The cops still branded their guns, ready for anything. "This may be a silly question, fellas, but does anyone have a pair of handcuffs?" Suddenly, about six officers sported cuffs in hand. Dick grabbed one set. "Um, thanks—one's enough. Be right back."

Dick brought Paul out in handcuffs, but unlike the traditional cuffing behind the back, Paul's hands were in front. It was a gesture that Dick didn't consider Paul a criminal. Paul said he would go quietly and face judgement. He was taken away by Sgt. Brankon Loe and Dick specifically asked him to be gentle.

After everything was all said and done, and all guests had departed, and both the bomb squad and SWAT left, dawn began to creep over the horizon. Batman and company left the nightclub in the Bat Plane which was parked on the roof of a nearby low building while Dick and Jason left in his Sedan.

With two-way communication enabled, Dick and Jason were able to converse with Batman and others via a special satellite link. On the dash monitor in Dick's Sedan, he saw all three in the Bat Plane, while they saw him and Jason. "Okay, I've had enough of this," Dick said outright. "Timmy, I want you to find this character The Mastermind, as you call him. I don't know how many stones you have to overturn to do it, but just find the bastard!"

"Already on it, Dick," Drake said. "I can't be positive, but I believe he was the anonymous source behind the G-TMZ flash breaking news segment. There were too many hot details given. Jason told us that Joker spoke to the man earlier, and he kept in touch with Joker over the last five years. He must also have other sources of information to give that much to G-TMZ. Revenge, I think?" Everyone agreed with him. Tim said he managed to swipe Joker's cell phone before the police nabbed him in the Operations Centre. "I'm doing a trace on the number as we speak" —Tim was on his laptop— "but the point of origin keeps bouncing around every second like he has some sort of sophisticated anti-tracking system. Knowing this deranged psychopath, he definitely doesn't want to get caught. I find it fascinating that this guy has managed to earn this much influence in the criminal underworld and collect enough capital to pull off schemes of this nature and we had not idea about him until a few weeks ago."

"Just do your best, Tim. That's all I ask."

"Sure thing, I won't let you down. We all want this bastard caught!"

To Be Continued…