Deadline for Justice

6:38 AM

The sun was beginning to lighten the sky, dawn slowly approaching. An exhausted Commissioner Gordon could not welcome it like he usually found he could, preferably at home with Sarah. He was still in downtown Gotham, keeping up perimeter around what was left of City Hall. Several blocks had to be evacuated and blocked off due to the fallout from the bomb.

Only people in hazmat suits could enter that area to try and clean it up, starting with the bodies of the first responders. Those brave souls were only trying to do their jobs and help, unaware of the bomb's true nature. They were the first confirmed fatalities and Gordon had a feeling that list was only going to get longer.

The mayor, much of the city council, and other officials had yet to be accounted for. He had been able to locate their interim district attorney and a couple others, all of whom had been running late or were caught up in the very convenient traffic jam that had formed before the explosion. The rest who were supposed to be at that emergency meeting were still trying to be found.

Most likely they were mixed in with all the rubble, if there was anything left of them to be found.

What were they going to do? It had been a long time since the last time they had been in such dire straits. Unlike the last time, this time most of their government had been stripped away and those who could have led this city were taken with it. As of now, he was perhaps the highest ranking person in the city.

He took no pride in that fact.

Gordon had never imagined that this was where it would all lead to. The death and destruction were so out of hand and who knew what would come next after this? When would it all end? When would this city wake up from this nightmare?

The smoke that continued to rise from the remains of City Hall had yet to stop, and already someone was taking responsibility for this. By now, the commissioner wondered if he should stop feeling surprised.

Because Harvey Dent...no, Two-face was claiming that responsibility. Through both a recorded message and a video posted on the internet, he declared to the world that the bombing was his doing. It didn't matter what his reasoning for this was, what he demanded from the limping city, or anything else. The man that Gordon had come to respect and depend on was gone, and only this monster was left in his place. There was nothing left to salvage from what Dent had become.

If nothing else, the sight that he had to see in front of him illustrated what Two-face was capable of. What lines he was willing to cross. The people he was willing to hurt. That he had no limits to the depravity he would sink to.

There was nothing this madman wouldn't do.

So what were his options? What was there that he could do?

The National Guard had come in force to shore up the numbers of the GCPD. You could see armed men and women with weapons city cops were not likely to be seen with lining the perimeter and effectively keeping anybody at risk outside of it. There was activity over in Trenton where a special session of the legislature was being convened. There was even word the Feds were on their way. So higher authorities were planning to get more involved at some point. That meant Gordon's sudden prominence had a time limit.

There was one thing he could do. Some may not like it. Others were already flat out demanding it. And times were desperate. Desperate measures were going to be needed to end this once and for all.

A sharp whistle drew the commissioner out of his thoughts, bringing his gaze to a most unwelcome sight. Barred and held back by the presence of the National Guard was Vale. She, like many other journalists and reporters, had been drawn here, all looking for a scoop. Oh, and now she was calling for him. What was he, a dog? Still, no one could be spared to give her the usual runaround.

"Gordon, you owe me!" the reporter called out to him, making the commissioner grit his teeth together.

Spinning oh his heel, he marched over towards her. "Now's not a good time," he snapped at her.

"Then give me something and I'll leave you alone," Vale quipped, not in the least bit put off.

"I don't have the time to answer any questions. Stay behind the line for once. You'll be thankful later," he ordered, intending to leave then and there.

"At least answer this: does anyone know where the mayor is or the city council? Nobody has been able to reach them," Vale pressed, unwilling to give up.

Maybe the stress, the horror, or just everything was getting to him, because Gordon had another lapse in judgement. "Look at this, Vale," he gestured over to what could be seen of City Hall. "Isn't this enough?"

Perhaps it was the way he had said it, but Vale for once was quiet, looking at the sight behind the commissioner. If ever the phrase "a picture tells a thousand words" was true, that over there clinched it. What more could be said about it? Everyone knew about what had been taking place last night. The timing of the bombing had been deliberate, targeting that specific meeting.

"But if it's a scoop you want, here's one," he found himself adding. "I will be submitting a formal request to the Justice League for their intervention. Do with that what you will."

Not waiting for any reply or follow up, Gordon stalked away, fully intending to match his actions to words. He himself didn't want to do this, but this matter was out of his hands now. Even if he wasn't the first, he didn't care.

Something had already given. Now everything else would fall behind it.

7:11 AM

Batman stared at the devastation. He couldn't be too close due to the chemicals currently surrounding the crater that used to be City Hall. Instead he had to choose a building a few blocks away, out of the contaminated area, one that was several stories high and gave him a very good look at the scene.

Just when things felt as if they couldn't get worse, they did. First Two-Face, then the return of Black Mask, now this. It was as if neither man had any thought to restraint. They were more than willing to let their gang war spill out into the streets of Gotham with no care as to who got hurt.

Gotham was hurting now and so was he. As the crater scarred the city, it left a wound in him as well. With one hand wrapping around the edge of the ledge he crouched on, his other one balled into a fist so tight, he would've drawn blood had his gloves not been present.

The first beams of sunlight were beginning to show themselves, meaning it was time for him to retreat to the cave and make some sense of this. Better yet, he needed to come up with something to put an end to this madness once and for all. A line had been crossed last night and there was no telling what that would lead to.

Then, as if to prove him right, he felt a presence behind him. It wasn't the other vigilantes considering he hadn't heard the telltale sound of a grapple. He did hear footsteps though, which meant someone either climbed the building or they flew in.

"You don't look well."

Batman tilted his head to a side, seeing Diana standing a few feet away. Her uniform was beginning to shine in the growing light, a light breeze blowing her hair to a side. She held herself confidently, but she was keeping her distance.

This did not bode well.

"What are you doing here?" he asked gruffly.

"I heard about the bombing," she replied before she took a couple more steps towards him, coming to stand off to his right and behind. The Dark Knight turned his head to look back at the scene. "I wanted to make sure you were alright."

"I'll live," he grunted back. Though for how much longer was up for debate. That said, there was something else going on here. As…fond...as he was growing towards the Amazon, she didn't make unnecessary trips, even if it was to check on a comrade. They had comm links after all. "You still didn't answer my question."

There was a pause and the longer it stretched, the worse his feeling grew. "The Justice League received a communique from the state governor," she told him, confirming his growing fear.

Batman was standing up now, turning to face the dark-haired woman. He didn't say a word; he didn't have to. Diana continued, "He's requested the League intervene in Gotham. With the city government gone and the use of a dirty bomb, the governor felt our presence was needed."

"You're not coming in," he stated, though there was a hit of incredulousness in his voice.

"Considering what has been happening…" Diana trailed off before she sighed, her shoulders sagging. "In light of what has transpired, the League took a vote and it was decided we would be taking action." She paused. "I'm sorry...Batman."

No...No! The League could not come here, no matter what their intentions. It was one thing for some charity ball, it was another for them to actively take a role in the fight. The repercussions would echo for decades.

"I need time," he said then. "You have to give me more."

A sad smile appeared on Diana's face. "If I could, I would give you every second you needed, but things have changed. This Harvey Dent person has forced everyone's hands."

And to be honest, Batman couldn't blame her or the Justice League. In fact, if there was any blame to be had, it rested right at his feet. He should have taken care of this mess a long time ago; before the bomb, before Leslie's kidnapping…

It was his turn for his shoulders to sag. "How much can you give me?"

The Amazon straightened out her posture. "The League has just finished dealing with the matter in Kahndaq. It's left everyone rather exhausted." Looking closer at her face, Batman could see the fatigue in her features, something he hadn't noticed due to her initial report. "Everyone is recovering from that, so it won't be today."

That was something at least. "However, once we're rested, we will be coming to Gotham. I believe I can buy you some time, but not much."

"How long?"

"Midnight, maybe. Maybe not even that."

Batman clenched his fist. It wasn't as much time as he wished, but there really wasn't much of a choice. "Tell the others if they can give me that much, I won't protest their involvement."

That startled the dark-haired woman. "Are you sure?"

"I have to be honest, things have gotten way out of hand," the vigilante admitted. "If I can't close the matter by then, then I don't deserve it any more. This war has to end."

Diana raised a hand up and placed it on his shoulder, giving him a comforting squeeze. "I think the others will be agreeable to that arrangement. But Batman...Bruce...hurry."

Though she had whispered his name, the fact that she had used it out in the field, where anyone could've heard it impressed upon him just how urgent the situation was.

"I will," he told her. "I will."

9:24 AM

There was one other person in Gotham who was not happy with the events downtown. Furious was one word to describe him.

"HOW DARE HE?!" Black Mask roared as he overturned a table, heedless of the small knickknacks and papers that had been placed on it. "HOW FUCKING DARE HE?!" A chair was picked up and thrown across the room, slamming into the wall and falling down on the floor.

Furious was the understatement of the year here. Angry, outraged, insulted, and more importantly, wrathful. That's what the masked man was and more. It was doubtful there was even a word to describe how he felt right now.

"That motherfucking son of a bitch dares to steal my credit! For MY goddamn plan! And people fucking believe him?" he continued to bellow, trashing the room without a care. Because what did it matter? Months of planning, importing, building, and waiting had all gone down the drain. There was no point anymore!

Standing against the wall, Mr. Waylon Jones stood awkwardly in nothing but his still dripping wet pants, his boots forgotten and possibly lost in the sewers. Scratching the back of his scaly head, the hired muscle said, "Sorry boss."

That did nothing to soothe his rage.

"Sorry? You can take that sorry of yours and shove it up your ass you ugly, Louisiana bayou reject!" Black Mask nearly screamed.

"At least the bomb, you know, blew up," Jones tried to point out.

"That's what it was built to do, you nincompoop! Why else would anybody make a bomb! The explosion wasn't the point, it was the credit! Without it, no one gives a flying fuck about us! Instead, that two-faced bastard gets all of it without lifting a finger and gets the fear that we needed!"

Black Mask placed his hands against the sides of his skull-shaped mask, wincing underneath it at the growing headache he was feeling. Now he was feeling tired. So very tired… Could nothing be going right?

"So what are we going to do?" spoked up Mitch, one of the few survivors of their botched bomb plot.

He had lost so many men last night, men he couldn't afford to lose. He had barely anyone on hand now. Ten, fifteen tops. Barely enough to make a gang, much less a criminal enterprise of any kind. It was another reminder how disastrous the whole thing had turned out to be.

But Mitch over there had a point. A real good point. What were they going to do? Getting angry about Dent stealing his thunder was not going to change anything. It wouldn't bring the masked man any closer to achieving his goals.

And that made him even more frustrated. That led him back to his anger and the bastard responsible for it. An endless loop of frustration and rage that would go on, feeding on itself. Unless he did something about it.

"Retaliation," he muttered to himself, eyes glaring coldly straight ahead. "We need to pay Dent back in kind for this."

"Now I'm interested," Jones growled eagerly.

"Dent took what didn't belong to him," Black Mask continued, speaking more to himself than to anyone specific. "This was our time. Our rise. He can't just take it away without paying some kind of price. Something important to him. That's what it has to be."

"But what would be important to a guy like him?" Jones asked.

A very good question. What was it that Dent valued most? What was something that was so important to him that it would draw him out of his own free will? It couldn't be Thorne; that option was off the table. So what else? He had to dig through all he knew about the former DA, looking back at what he was now and what he had been before.

Because a person's past always affected their present and future. Thorne had been a thorn in Dent's side back when he was on the side of the law. Could there be something else from those law abiding days of his that he still had a connection to?

No, wait, not something. Someone. That was it. That was how he would get back at that two-faced asshole.

"I know," Black Mask stated for all to hear. "If Dent is going to take my plan away from me, then I'll take that pretty little wife of his. Find out where she is and bring her to me. Bring her to me alive because that's the only way this will work. He'll come after her, of course he will. And we'll be waiting with guns aplenty and a bullet with his name on it."

9:38 AM

It was all over the news.

City Hall was gone, along with everyone that happened to be in the building. They were still pulling corpses out of the rubble, but it wasn't looking good for any survivors.

Stephanie stared at the television, rapt with fascination. Her dad had long since gone to work and her mom was...actually, she didn't know she was.

Clutched tightly in one hand was a spoon, one she had been using to eat her cereal when she had turned on the tube and the BREAKING NEWS banner crossed the screen. Her mouth was gaping wide, trickles of milk leaving white trails down her chin.

This...this was insane! Who in their right mind would detonate a bomb in the middle of Gotham?! Who in their right mind would want to be out in the streets with stuff like that going on?

It had been awhile since her first clumsy attempts at vigilantism, but Stephanie felt she was getting better. The last criminal she stopped hadn't shown her any mercy, though he was still a bit much for her. She had gotten her hands on a metal pipe and beat his face black and blue before he went down. At least she had spoiled his mugging attempt.

Yet, she knew without a doubt she was in over her head. If she felt that way with common thugs, there was no way she stood a chance at going up against the monster that blew up just about everyone in the city gov.

And if she was out of her depth, then that other vigilante was too.

Stephanie finally shut her mouth. This all but confirmed to her that she needed to have a nice, little chat with that girl calling herself Bluebird. She was in serious need of a SPOILER ALERT and she was going to make sure she got it before she got herself killed.

9:39 AM

"Harper, you have to stop."

The young girl looked startled at her brother. Cullen looked deadly serious, which went against his normally laidback self.

"Stop what?" Harper questioned.

"Your late night stuff. I'm not sure if you heard, but City Hall is gone."

The blue-haired girl looked to their television. It had been going nonstop since the early hours of the morning. Normally Harper would have been out there to help people, but she had some bad tacos the previous night and spent it over the toilet and had just gotten to bed three, maybe four hours ago.

On the screen was a picture of what was left of City Hall. There were people in what looked like hazmat suits were crawling through the wreckage, though there was no telling what they were looking for. Survivors, the source of the blast...both...neither...it was hard to tell.

"I know you want to make a difference like Batman, but no matter what you do, you can't take on a bomb," Cullen continued.

"Which is all the more reason why I need to be out there," Harper countered.

"Why? So you can be blown to bits?!" her brother shouted, gesturing to the T.V. "No way, I can't stand by and let my sister die!"

Harper smiled. "That's sweet of you, Cullen, but I'm not stopping. Can't stop."

"Can't stop?" he repeated exasperatedly. "What does that mean? You're addicted to this? To the adrenaline rush it gives you? Do you know how nuts that sounds?"

To be honest, yeah, she did. There was an adrenaline rush she got, especially after she helped someone. She imagined that's how the others felt, at least in the beginning. She knew where Cullen was coming from, but if Batman couldn't stop this bomb, then that meant he needed more help, not less.

Besides, now that bombs were involved, she would just have to come up with a way to deal with them.

"Are you listening to me?" her brother demanded, pulling her out of her musings.

"Yeah, I hear you Cullen," she said, then sighed. "You have to let me think about this. It's—"

"No! Why would I let you even think you could keep doing something that'll kill you?"

"Because this gives me a purpose!" she yelled back, causing Cullen to flinch back startled. "I know, it's weird, probably stupid even, but before I became Bluebird...you know what I was like. I was just here, doing the 9-to-5 grind. Now look at me. I know I'm different; I feel different and it feels good. I can't go back, not after all of this."

Cullen was silent. "I promise you, I'm going to think about this and real hard. But you have to know just how hard this is for me."

His shoulders sagged. "I...okay, Harper. But seriously think about what I've said. I know you and honestly, I think you've already made your choice."

Harper looked to the TV screen again. She may not be ready to handle a bomb, that much was true, but she would have to. It was time to step up her game.

10:00 AM

It was a sickening feeling.

Black Canary had stared at the wreckage of City Hall, the magnitude of it hitting her with a gut punch for the ages. She had had setbacks during her time as the Canary, but none of those compared to the despair of failure she felt now.

She should've have searched the building more thoroughly. Instead, she went off on a detour to help Batman. If he hadn't been busy fighting that Killer Croc guy, he would've found the bomb and disarmed it. Then he would've come to fight the reptile man.

It was a rookie mistake and she knew it.

Unfortunately, she had parked her bike too close to the City Hall when she had come here. No doubt it was scrap metal at this point. She was gonna have to make the trek back to the Birdcage on foot.

"Hey, wait up!"

"Now isn't the time for this," Black Canary called out over her shoulder. Green Arrow was running after her across the rooftop and had been for the last couple.

"Will you just wait!" At this, the Emerald Archer caught up to her, his hand falling onto her shoulder. "I know, you're feeling pretty shitty right about now, but right now isn't the time to get lost in your head."

The blonde spun around, knocking the hand off her shoulder. "You have no idea what I'm feeling," she snapped.

"Sure I do," he replied way too damn easily. "You're thinking about how it's your fault, if you had done something different, this wouldn't have happened."

"Is that right?" she said lowly, if not dangerously.

"I can't tell you how many times I've felt that way."

"And how many times has City Hall in Star City blown up?"

"Once, but it was only a wing, not a city block."

"This is making me feel so much better."

Green Arrow's face became serious. "You can't put this all on your shoulders. There were three of us in there and each of us made a decision at some point or another to brought about this result. More importantly, the blame for this is right on the madman that pulled the trigger."

"And while he was pulling that trigger, where were we?" she countered. "We were in a wrestle-mania beatdown in the sewers and not in City Hall looking for that bomb."

"And because we were down there means we weren't caught in the blast."

"What makes you think there would have been an explosion if we had done our jobs?"

"There were, what, fifty more rooms for us to check? That isn't counting the ventilation system and other nooks and crannies throughout the place. Maybe we get lucky and we find the bomb in the next room. I rather doubt it though, since it took us several minutes to find Batman and Killer Croc and our fight didn't go on for much longer than that."

Black Canary turned around, her hair flying behind her head to settle on one shoulder as she began walking away. "You just don't get it, do you?" she said out loud. It was more for herself, but she made sure Green Arrow heard her.

"I get it a lot more than you'd ever know," he returned just as ardently. "Right now you need a break."

"No, no way, not after this."

"Consider yourself on break, then."

"Not this time, Ollie!" she shouted at him as she whipped around.

It took her a moment to realize what she said and she felt her stomach drop. Green Arrow's face had gone pale and he stared at her with wide, if not frightened eyes.

"I'm so sorry," she sputtered out, her hands in front of her mouth. "I...I didn't meat to…"

The blond man looked away. "I guess I'm not the only one to figure something out," he said eventually. "Right, Flower Girl?"

It was her turn to widen her eyes as her face paled. "How did you…"

"Figure it out? Something you said last night. Hell, just now when you refused to take a breather." He finally looked to her. "How about you?"

"I recognized your beard."

There was a moment of silence before, "You gotta be kidding me."

"It's a pretty distinctive beard, you know."

Another pause. "It is, isn't it?"

A weak smile appeared on Black Canary's face. "This isn't the place to go further into this."

"You're probably right. We do need to discuss this though."

"Yes." She sighed. "For now...I think we need to take a break."

"Is that just in general, or as far as our budding relationship is going?"

And she found her smile growing bigger.

11:45 AM

Dick was tempted to ask how things could get any worse than they already had, but he didn't want to tempt fate into showing how that could happen. A jinx was the last thing anybody needed.

Instead, he'd set himself up in Barbara's place because right now he was not in the mood to be by himself. The past twenty four hours had been tough on a lot of people, and Dick felt that he was one of the ones who had been bearing more of the brunt than others. First, Tim's forced retirement from the Batclan and now Two-face blows up downtown with a dirty bomb. At the rate things were going, they might not have a city anymore.

He had found Barbara hard at work at her station, and it was easy to see that she was trying to distract herself. Through the bits and pieces he had managed to make out, after her call to him last night to stay away from City Hall, she had been busy trying to keep her father away so that he himself wasn't killed. It had been a close one, apparently, and she was still somewhat bothered to how close she had been to losing him.

So Dick did the only thing he could do to comfort her. He did his best to keep her from ruminating on the close call. He gave praise for her actions, and kept her focused on the solid fact that, yes, her father was alive and not about the kick the bucket any time soon.

Now, after spending enough time with her to know how Barbara ticked, she had at least two ways of coping. One she either dived into some kind of project or kept really, really busy so that she didn't have to think about it. The other was she became depressed and overanalyzed everything to the point she was unable to do anything. She had gone through the latter over the past year, ever since her paralysis.

Right now, she was doing the former, the more preferred alternative when compared to what the other option was. However, he knew that anything taken to the extreme was not a good thing either so he was going to have to keep an eye on her. You know, just in case.

"What are you working on now?" he asked, hoping to get her talking. Sitting around in silence was not his idea of a good time.

"Take a look at this," Barbara invited, singling out one of the monitors. "Notice anything?"

Narrowing his eyes, he studied the image presented to him. "That looks like Two-face's car."

"And wouldn't you know it, it was leaving City Hall when the bomb went off. He was there," the computer hacker confirmed. "I've been trying to track his movements since. It's not easy since he likes to avoid the traffic cams. Some CCTV cameras manage to pick him up, so I've been able to narrow an area that he may be hiding in."

"He does have a tendency to hide in clubs," Dick pointed out. "See if there's any around that fit with his MO."

"Doing a search," Barbara confirmed. "While my program does that, I want to show you something else. Last night, I hacked into the phone company and got a lot of data from it."

"Why were you hacking a phone company?" the male vigilante wondered.

"Dad wasn't picking up and I needed to reach him quick. Dead battery, as it turns out," Barbara explained. "However, I found something really odd. Look over here, I'll color the area."

On a monitor that showed the historic area of Gotham, a gray-colored circle marking off a few city blocks.

"You know what that is?" She didn't wait for him to answer, obviously asking a rhetorical question. "That's a dead spot. No one in the last few weeks have made any calls from that area. No signals, no coverage, nothing."

"And this means what?" he asked, mystified by this change in topic.

"I dug into some of my records a bit. Remember that time that I tried to contact you and Tim and you weren't able to hear me? Your transmitters were working fine and everything. Turns out, you were in that circle right there. I couldn't contact you and you couldn't contact me. Again, that shouldn't be happening. Based on all the data I've gathered, I've been led to believe that something is blocking any and all signals in that area."

"Think it could be Two-face?" Dick asked.

"I'm not sure. Based on everything I've collected on him, it doesn't match his style," the wheelchair-bound woman answered. "There aren't any clubs down there, street gangs pretty much claim it. And it's the historic district. Only tourists make it a point to do anything down there. The only landmark is the old Gotham Cathedral and that's right in the middle of that circle. I really, really have no idea of what to make of it."

"Then I guess we'll need to find a way to make something out of it," he quipped. Then he added, "Or find someone who can."

12:56 PM

Morale was low amongst the members of the task force. You'd have to be blind to not see it.

There was plenty of reason for this. They had been charged to bring an end to Gotham's nightmare and last night was their greatest failure. From a low brought on by the failure of the Thorne convoy to this whole new one, it was easy to see that everyone was ready to throw in the towel.

Sarah perfectly understood this. They had been putting in their time, their sweat, their tears, their blood, and even their lives, and what did they have to show for it? Surrendering to the unstoppable force they faced seemed like the best option right now.

Yet, it was still their duty to continue trying.

"Why?" Bullock had demanded. "What else can we do? We've been running around with our dicks in our hands, jerking each other off, and all we have is a smoking hole in the ground to show for it. How the hell are we supposed to stop this bastard who we can't find and we can't stop?"

Bullock, whether he knew it or not, had crudely summed up the feeling not only in the task force but also the department as a whole.

"How did he get into City Hall to plant that bomb? How did he even build it without anybody knowing?" Montoya asked aloud, trying to keep the briefing on track. "From what footage I can find, there's no signs of him breaking in or leaving before the explosion. So how did he do it?"

"There's a lot of ways," Sawyer answered. "At least in Metropolis, there were."

"So what, he's importing the ways of other criminals into Gotham too?" Bullock asked incredulously. "That's great. That's goddamn terrific."

"I know that we're all hurting right now," Sarah spoke up. "Many of us have lost faith after this. But one thing I know that will not change anything is sarcasm. Whether we like it or not, we are still sworn to upholding the law and apprehending everyone that breaks it."

"Well then, you gotta have some ideas," Bullock stopped her before she could continue speaking. "Motivational speeches aren't going to magically save the city anytime soon."

Despite the interruption, Sarah knew that the lieutenant was right. Unfortunately, ideas were in short supply, even for her. So she was grasping at straws when she turned to Montoya.

"Anything on Gilda Dent? Any movement, any communications?"

"Quiet. She's as she was when he last saw her," Montoya reported, shrugging her shoulders.

"What about the envelopes? Anything new?" she turned to Sawyer, hoping that she didn't appear desperate.

"Only links that go back to the Half Moon Club and the Wild Deuce. Both of which we've already raided and lockdowned," Sawyer answered. "A stash of manila envelopes, the same we found at with Gilda Dent, were found at the Half Moon. It seems that of all his multiple hideouts, that one was the one he spent the most time at."

Which left them with no more leads.

"Then we're going to have to hit the streets, shake down whoever we can who might know anything," Sarah sighed as she voiced her decision. "It's not our best option, but we don't have anything else we can work with."

"We may not have a lot of time anyway," Montoya said. "I've been hearing that the commissioner had submitted a request to the Justice League for their assistance. It's bad when you hear both his supporters and critics agree with that."

Didn't Sarah know that. She couldn't blame Jim for that move; he was just as desperate as her to resolve this. They couldn't move fast enough or process enough information to be able to make a definitive move before the League arrived.

The clock was ticking and everyone knew that there was nothing any of them could do.