Disclaimer: I don't own anything but the plot! The plot belongs to me; DC Comics basically owns everything else.

Chapter Twenty-Five

Monday

December 5, 2005

11:13 AM

Batcave-Nightwing and Starfire's Office

"Okay," Kory said as she took a seat at her desk and turned on her computer, "Zucco's file should be on Bruce's computer so we can pull it from there and-"

"Pull his record in Blackgate from the police computer there." Dick finished off as he started typing.

They worked in silence for the next hour and a half, the only sound coming from their fingers taping the keys on their keyboards.

"Got it." Dick finally said as he quickly clicked the print button before turning to Kory. "Charlie 'Razor' McFarlen. He's a known member of Falcone's Gang and is actually pretty high up on his list. He went from flunky to right-hand man in just three years and took a dive for Falcone when he was almost caught at the docks shipping illegal marijuana a few years ago. Guess who was his cellmate in Blackgate?"

"Zucco." Kory said leaning back in her chair and rolling a pencil between her fingers. "Zucco's had over thirty cell mates in the past seven years but Razor is the only one connected to Falcone's gang. He was in there for two months. I think that's a fair amount of bonding time, don't you?"

"More than enough." Dick said as he stacked the papers and pulled an empty manilla folder out of a drawer. He put the papers in there and marked it before going over to one of the filing cabinets and putting it away. "Most likely they cut a deal. Razor helps Zucco get out and Zucco goes to work for Falcone. Most likely as a hit man."

"Razor had to probably do some serious talking to get Falcone to agree to let Grant handle the case for him." Kory replied as she stood up and stretched a bit. "Falcone doesn't let just anyone use his lawyer. Not to mention, whenever Grant's involved, it won't take long for the evidence to disappear."

"Which is exactly why we're going to throw ourselves completely into this case." Dick stated as he took a seat at his desk and smirked. "Vic and Karen helped Babs finish up a few pieces of special surveilance equipment just yesterday. Tonight, we set it up at the evidence room in Police Headquarters.

"With the pieces they finished, we can record the live video feed right to our computers, create a special laser grid of our own to alert us, not only if someone entered the area but also set off a small camera that will instantly train in on the person's face and take a picture of them. That picture is set up to the Batcave's system and will instantly search for a match. The video camera will automatically train in on the person in the room and we'll set up about five incase whoever shows up decides to bring in any friends to help.

"We'll have to talk to Commissioner Gordon about keeping the officers in charge of the cases in a few safe places so Falcone's goons won't get 'em. We also need to make sure that the rats around the city that do find out, won't squeal to anyone."

"That's easier said than done." Kory poitned out as she sat on the edge of his desk and looked down at him. "To do that, we're gonna need to scare 'em as bad as they're being scared by whoever's been testing us.

"I'm not saying it can't be done, because it obviously can. I'm just saying that maybe Nightwing and Starfire won't be able to get it done on their own."

"So you're sying we gang up on them?" Dick said catching the meaning behind her words, "But not just us."

"Exactly." Kory told him with a smile before she got up and headed for the door to the girl's locker room. "I'm gonna go catch a nap before I start training later. I have a feeling we'll be up all night."

"You see Babs on the way you may want to let her know." Dick said as he turned back to the computer and started typing. "That way she can have everything prepared to take with us."

"I'll head over and let her know." Kory reassured him before leaving the room.

She walked out of the girl's locker room and into the training room before heading out into the main cave and over to Bab's computer lab.

When she went in, Babs was sitting at one of the work tables, inserting a micro chip into one of the new pieces of equipment she was working on.

Kory waited a few seconds until Babs finished up and turned to her.

"What's up?" She asked as she took off her safety glasses.

"Richard and I want to set up the new surveilance equipment in the evidence room at Police Headquarters." She told her but before she could continue Babs was out of her chair so fast, it was thrown back a few feet.

"You can't!" She excalimed, her eyes wide with surprise, "Vic, Karen, and I did finish the prototypes yesterday. We never got a chance to test them. Any number of things could go wrong with the system. It could misread the persons face, the holographic projector could blank out if someone steps in front of it, the lasers could set off the alarm if an ant walked through them!"

"What better way to test it out than on the field." Kory pointed out calmly. "Besides, this way you can get all the data you need on how to improve it while we can still have a better chance at catching Falcone's goons in the act."

Babs sighed and walked over to where her shiar had fallen to the ground and slowly icked it up before setting it back down and sitting in it.

"Okay," She said after taking a deep breath to calm herself, "you two can use the equipment but I have to set up most of it. I'll pack it all up and we can get started tonight. Each piece needs to be handled with care though. Right now, I'm not sure how sensitive the system is.

"I'll work on hooking it up to the mainframe in a few. I gotta finish this first."

"Thanks Babs." Kory said with a smile before turning to leave but turned back at the last minute. "Forgot, does that haircut offer still stand?"

Babs nodded.

"Great! You mind giving me one before the trial starts?"

"No problem." Babs replied with a smile.

"Thanks." Kory said before leaving the room.

Tuesday

December 6, 2005

1:27 AM

Police Headquarters-Evidence Room

"You sure this stuff is going to be able to record the robery?" Commissioner Gordon asked skeptically as he looked at the dark oval that was about an inch thick and rounded on the outside, "I can't even see the video camera in this thing."

"That's exactly the point Commissioner." Batgirl said as she took the camera away from him and set it up in a completely shadowed area. "It's made to blend in with the darkness. Sure, someone will be suspicious if they actually found it but if they tried to open it, it would send a shock through there bodies before the camera will self destruct and they wouldn't be able to track what's in it. We, however, would still have the footage and be able to send it to you to help with the case."

She looked up to see Starfire carefully placeing a large group of semi-circles in an intricat pattern and exactly four inches away from eachother on all sides.

"Don't forget to hit the camofluage button Star," She told the older redhead before entering the room where all the evidence that the police had stored against Zucco was locked up.

She pulled out a round stick that was about as thick as a ball point pen and took a picture of the whole area from the doorway.

She pulled a thin memory card from the bottom of the camera and pulled out one small, round ball that easilyfit into the palm of her hand. She put the disk in a small open slot in the ball and turned to the Commissioner.

"This ball can project a holographic image," She explained to him pressing on the top and pointing it to one corner of the room. It instantly showed a completely realistic image of all the evidence. She pressed the top again and the image disappeared. "We're going to take all the evidence to the cave with us for safe keeping until the trial begins. Nightwing has a special forensics case attached to his Night-Cycle so we can put extra bags on 'em and put them in the extra bulletproof case for storage. No one would be able to detach the cases without a special key so they'll be safe. I'll place the ball in one of the corners and it'll automatically blend in with it. The only way anyone would be able to find out is if they actually try to touch one of the 'pieces of evidence' in which case a net will fall on top of the person or people and they will automatically be cuaght. The net is also special because it's made of a grade A steel, ground to perfection. Basically, you can't cut through it. Nightwing is setting up a sensor at your desk to let you know if someone ends up getting caught by the net. Once he comes back down with the two cases, we can store the evidence, set up the net and holographic image, and then be on our way."

Commissioner Gordon just raised an eyebrow to her before shaking his head and heading to the door.

"Just let me know when your done." He said as he retreated out the door and into the hall, closing the door behind him.

"I think you launched into to big an explanation." Starfire told her as she floated down, a smirk set on her face.

Batgirl just shrugged before she tucked away the holographic projector and turned back to the caged room they kept evidence against Zucco in.

Starfire just opened the door and exited the room comletely, making sure to close the door behind her.

Meanwhile, Batgirl climbed up the side of the cage and took out a dark metal block from her utility belt and set it in the corner. She let go of the cage and fell silently to the floor before repeating the process in the other three corners.

Once she finished, Starfire walked back in carrying two black rectangular cases. She pushed the door closed with her foot before walking into the caged off area as Batgirl walked out.

She set both cases on the floor before opening one up and pulling out a few medium-sized plastic bags. She then went over to the shelf holding some of the evidence and carefully took each piece, one-by-one, and placed them in their own bags before storing them in the other case.

After she finished, she pulled out a few larger bags and fit each piece of the clothes that were folded neatly on the shelf away in them and storing them in the other case.

After she was done, she closed and locked both cases up before picking them up again and leaving the room with all the evidence against Zucco. Once she did she nodded to Batgirl before leaving the room, closing the door behind her.

Batgirl went in once more and grabbed the holographic projector from her utility belt. She carefully set it in the corner to the right of the door and pressed the button which activated the image and made it seem like all the evidence was there. She then pressed another button and it instantly blended in with the corner.

She smiled happily before leaving the caged room and locking the door to it. She walked down the line of caged off evidence, each with a different name at the top, until she reached the door and stepped to the right of it.

There, against the wall, was a black, ractangular case exactly like the ones Starfire had just left with.

She opened it up and pulled out another utility belt and set it on the floor. She took the one she was wearing off and set it in the case before closing and locking it.

She grabbed the one she set on the floor and quickly put it on before grabbing the case and leaving the room, making sire to close the door behind her.

She slowly walked up the steps.

"Nightwing." She whispered, waiting for an answer through her earphone.

"You done?" He asked instantly.

"Just finished up." She told him as she stopped at the first window on the stairway.

"Alright," Nightwing replied a few seconds later as she opened the window, "I'll meet you and Star outside in a minute. Nightwing out."

She opened the window and pushed the case through it first before climbing out herself. Once she was out she closed the window, grabbed the case, and looked around carefully.

She stood against the wall of police headquarters and could only see the wall of empty police cars in front of her.

No cops in sight.

She moved swiftly through the shadows, her feet not making a sound as she treaded lightly across the snow covered pavement, dragging the case behind her to get rid of whatever footrprints she may have made.

Once she got to the fence, she quickly jumped over and took off down the alley.

A few buildings down she saw Starfire standing next to the bikes, the two cases she was once carrying already locked in on Nightwing's bike.

She finally skidded to a stop in front of the older redhead.

"Not a bad time." Nightwing commented from directly behind her, making her jump, "But next time, use your line gun. I had to dup some snow over your trail to cover it. Especially when you first left."

"Sorry," Batgirl apologized before pulling out a small, square controller from her utility belt, "guess I'm just a little anxious to see if this'll actually work or not."

She quickly extended the antenna before turning the controller on.

"This is exactly how we'll know if someone breaks in while we're on patrol." She told them as she looked down as the small screen. "At least until Stone and I finally pick a final design for the new communicators. Of course after that we'll have to build them, as well as a few other things.

"Anyway, once I flip this switch, the system will be activated and the feed will instantly appear. Then all I have to do is pick a camera to look at a particular area or, when we're on patrol, turn it on vibe to let us know if someone bresks in."

She looked up at her two leaders who just nodded in understanding.

"Great," Nightwing said as he went over to his bike and grabbed his helmet from the removeable seat before turning back to them, "now we have to go meet Batman and Catwoman and deal with the city's rat problem. Then we'll send Falcone a little warning."

Batgirl grinned while Starfire smirked.

3:27 AM-An Alley in Downtown Gotham

The cold air whipped around him as he ran, trying to cool his bright red face and overheated body. He didn't dare look back in fear of being caught.

He just kept running.

He wasn't fast enough.

Something slammed his ankles together and, the next thing he knew, he was underneath a huge pile of dirty brown snow.

He lay still in hopes of not being caught, but they were quickly denied as a strong force lifted him out of the snow pile.

"Jake 'King' Mahony." A deep voice growled from behind him before he was thrown to the ground.

He looked up in fear as Batman, Catwoman, Nightwing, Starfire, and Batgirl towered over him. He looked down and saw his ankles bound by-he didn't know what.

"It's a bola." Nightwing answered his unasked question as he crouched down in front of him and stared him straight in the eye. "So, King of the Rats, we have a message we'd like you to deliver to all your subjects. If any of you catch wind of anything that has to do with the Zucco case, keep your traps shut. Or, whoever squeals, gets their throat slit! Get me?"

He nodded, his eyes wide with fear.

Nightwing reached out and grabbed him by his throat before quickly standing up, bringing him along with him.

It was less than a second later that he fell into darkness.