Fowler and Kate
Neal walked into the parking lot and up to the requested floor. There was a Batman grade earpiece in his ear. On the other end, he could hear Peter and Red Robin chatting away.
Of course, Drake didn't care about Peter's gross stakeout sandwiches El had made for lunch.
Fowler was standing by a black FBI-issued car. Neal would have been shocked, if they hadn't watched him arrive before sending Neal in. Fowler was frowning and tense. He didn't move as Neal walked up.
Fowler held out a hand. "The Music Box."
Neal grinned. "Here." He held out the bag he was carrying and showed Fowler the box inside. "It was a pain to get. Now, where's Kate?"
Fowler held out the files he was holding. "The details are there."
Neal flicked through. His eyes widened when he spotted the words 'mentor', 'new identities' and something about undercover FBI agents.
"Mentor was for me?" It was most likely for George. A chance to leave it all behind without breaking his contract to Damian.
He was furious.
He read out the location and then took the documents and tore them to pieces in front of Fowler.
Tim questioned why he read out the location and Peter gave him a scolding warning; unaware of the action he had just made. So, they couldn't see him, only hear.
Fowler shook his head. "Why would you do that? Those documents weren't easy to create."
"Kate is a fool," Damian informed him. "I have enough resources to do this without making stupid deals with dangerous people." And he has promised both George and Kate that. For Kate to make this deal behind his back; to take actions which pulled George from Damian's protection and got him killed, he was going to have words with her before he dumped her in WitSec. Unless Mar'i stopped him. "And Fowler?" He looked the shocked agent in the eyes. "Don't move from this spot. They're almost here."
Peter came cursing around the corner and Red Robin jumped up onto the nearby ledge, perching there and ready to pounce.
"Burke? What is this?" Fowler took a step back and looked around. He hadn't been expecting Red Robin.
Damian grinned. "Take care of him guys!"
"Oh no you don't!" Red Robin pounced for him, perhaps realising what he was about to do.
Damian leapt out of the way and flicked his wrist. His collapsible bo staff came loose and sprung into full glory into his hand. It was a shame that a sword would complicate things but he had to make do.
Fowler had asked to meet on the third floor of this multi story carpark and Damian had been glad for it. Not just because it gave Red Robin access.
But because it gave him an exit.
"Sorry Peter! I'll be back! Maybe!" he said as he spun the bo staff as a shield against Red Robin's batarangs. He pressed a hidden button on his sleeve.
Damian leapt over the ledge and landed in his flying batmobile. He wouldn't be the first to get to Kate but he would be there faster than Fowler expected.
"Okay, I have questions," Peter said as Damian flew off in the cloaked machine. Damian laughed.
"Ask away!" he responded. The earpieces were two-way and a range that covered all of New York, as long as you didn't go underground without support.
Peter took a moment to respond. "Later." He had to take care of arresting Fowler first.
There was smoke billowing out from the airport.
"Oh, you've got to be joking." Damian flicked the earpiece to the second station it was synced to. The station Red Robin hadn't realised Damian was also communicating on. "What happened, Nightstar?"
Mar'i answered quickly, "so I went to get Kate by sneaking onto the plane and I pulled her off before she could do anything. But she called someone and then the plane blew up!"
That made no sense. Why would the plane blow up? He was patting himself on the back for getting Mar'i to immediately go after Kate. It turned out well if they were both alive.
"Where are you?"
"Above the clouds." As she was saying it, she dropped below the clouds and Damian could see her. Kate was in her arms, looking all around her but never down.
Damian opened the bubble-like hood of his cloaked batmobile and drove over to the girls.
Kate looked away when she spotted him.
"Who did you call?" Damian demanded to know.
"The plan was to blow up the plane and fake our deaths so that not even Fowler could track us." At least she answered. As useless as an answer it was.
"Me, or George?"
"Whomever came. Either way George would be able to step into those shoes. He's good at that."
"Not good enough," Mar'i commented.
"Who did you call?" Damian had noticed that she hadn't answered his question.
"Fowler."
"Lie. I was with him the whole time. Try again."
"If you answer honestly, you'll be relocated, same as you were planning. No one will know where, not even us."
"You'll be relocated either way. Your cooperativeness will determine where you go and how comfortable your new life will be," Damian added.
Kate was frowning, arms crossed over her chest. "Fine. If I send you after him, then there's less chance he'll com after me. It was Adler."
"Adler? Our Ponzi Boss?" Damian asked. His stomach sunk as Kate nodded. That guy had a lot of money, thanks to his Ponzi scheme. He was also good at keeping what he knew hidden. He knew about Neal spying on him but hadn't revealed a thing until he was gone.
"What does Vincent Adler want with the music box?" Mar'i questioned. Kate shrugged as he had never spoken about that with her and she didn't care.
Damian clicked his tongue. Rookie mistake. Always know why the big bad wants the thing he wants.
"Mar'i, are you willing to take her to where she'll be relocated?" Damian asked.
Mar'i nodded. "I can contact my dad and he can take care of it."
"Wait. I'm not flying in that?" Kate asked, pointing at the batmobile. Damian knew it looked more comfortable than riding outside in someone's arms. But, too bad, he closed the lid on her.
Done with this (is the title. There's still more chapters after this - Chuck will be in the next chapter)
Damian dropped his head onto his table and groaned. He didn't want to deal with Adler again. It had been bad enough the first time, a real mess of a mission. Damian hadn't been busted but Adler had known something was up with the skilled young man he had hired. Damian had to hope that Adler only thought that Damian was a conman pulling a scam and nothing more.
The door opened slowly and Damian heard the relieved gasp Peter made.
"You're here."
"As far as the law's concerned, I was here all day," Damian responded. Peter must have decided to ignore the admission that Damian had a way to manipulate his anklet and sat down across from him.
"Fowler's in custody. He's not able to give the name of the man who blackmailed him. He never met them in person. And he won't tell us what he was blackmailed with."
"Smart. If the blackmailer sends it to you, then you'll know. Otherwise, he doesn't have whatever it was added to his sentence."
Peter nodded solemnly. "Where's Kate?"
Damian shrugged. "Somewhere. She's run off under a new name. I don't want to know what it is."
Peter placed a hand over Damian's. "For what it's worth, I'm sorry you didn't get the ending you wanted."
Damian shrugged with a frown. Hopefully Peter would catch on that he didn't want to talk about it.
