Jordan awoke just as the van stopped and the men piled out. Her mouth was taped to prevent her from screaming, and despite the cast on her left lower arm, they had tied her hands together at the wrist. As they hustled her inside an empty warehouse, Jordan noticed they were somewhere near the docks, as the smell of sea water and ship exhaust hung heavy in the air. Once inside, they practically dragged her through the building until they reached a door at the far end. Opening it, they ripped the tape from her mouth and untied her hands before shoving her inside the small, darkened room and locking her in.
"I have powerful friends you swine sucking piles of bull manure!" Jordan shouted. "You're going to regret this!"
"Shut up, Blondie, or we'll cut your tongue out of your throat!" one of the thugs shouted back.
A quick glance around the room told her there was no chance of escape, and the size of the room combined with the lack of light immediately began to trigger Jordan's claustrophobia.
Oh, joy. Bruce, where are you?
The door opened again a few minutes later, and Jordan glanced over expectantly as the three men who had abducted her stepped into the room. They were average looking men, short in stature with stocky builds and attitudes to match. The man in front was the tallest of the three, and one of the others had red hair in lieu of his companions' brown. The tall man shifted his arm and it was then Jordan noticed he was brandishing a metal rod about an inch thick and three to four feet long.
This can't be good, she mused anxiously.
"This is your lucky day, Blondie," he told her. "See, we were supposed to kill you and dump your body in the harbor. But, some of our associates in the Middle East have offered us a small fortune for you. Apparently, they have a thing for blonde American women."
He paused then to give her a lecherous leer and Jordan felt revulsion trickle down her spine as he continued.
"So, after we teach you some manners and rough you up some so our employer believes we killed you, we're going to ship you out of here."
"And your 'associates' overseas won't have a problem with receiving damaged goods?" Jordan prompted.
"As long as there's no permanent damage, they can deal with it."
Jordan responded to the thinly veiled threat with a small smile. "If you and your buddies think you can take a piece of me, you're welcome to try," she invited.
The men needed no further invitation and immediately swarmed Jordan. Dodging a blow from the first one, she retaliated with a spinning kick to his jaw, sending him crashing into the wall. The other two charged and they scuffled for a few minutes before she landed a punch to the face of one as his partner retaliated in kind and knocked her to knees with a vicious blow. The third man returned then and delivered a kick to her ribcage, and Jordan immediately fell onto her back, clutching her side at the pain.
"Nice try, Blondie," he sneered, and gestured for his taller comrade to pass him the metal rod. "Now let's try this again."
He lifted the rod over his head and Jordan placed her arms above her head in self-defense he swung his arm downwards. The rod struck her left wrist, and despite the cast, Jordan could tell from the immediate pain radiating through her arm that the force of the blow had done additional damage. Holding her re-injured arm against her, she braced herself for the second assault. But just then a pair of gunshots rang out and the man fell to ground next to Jordan, dead before his body hit the concrete. She immediately grabbed the rod in a vain attempt to defend herself and struggled to her feet as a German accented voice spoke from the shadows.
"You won't be needing that."
Jordan spun around and found herself face to face with Franz Reinkin, who stood in the doorway flanked by a pair of men dressed all in black and brandishing AR-15 rifles. Reinken was in his early 50's, with almost white blond hair and dark green eyes that offset his fair skin.
"Franz…."
"Hello, Jordan," Reinkin greeted. "I believe there are some things you and I need to discuss."
Motioning for the one guard to keep an eye on Jordan, Reinkin walked over to stand in front of her, shadowed by the second guard. He relieved Jordan of the rod before turning his attention to the other two men who had abducted her.
"I am not certain what you intended to accomplish by double crossing me and selling Dr. Kent to the highest bidder, but it was a fatal mistake," he told them.
He gave a curt nod to the man beside him, and the guard wordlessly lifted his rifle to shoot the two men.
"Are you insane?" Jordan blurted out and instinctively stepped backwards.
Ignoring her question, Reinken shifted his attention to her. "Apologies for your mistreatment, Jordan," he said. "Contrary to what these fools thought, you were not supposed to have been manhandled."
"What the hell do you want?"
"Luthor sent me to find you," he told her. "You need to answer for that little escapade in Kenya that cost us about a million dollars. Not to mention that he has some unfinished business with Superman and intends to use you as bait to bring him to heel."
"You're seriously delusional if you think I'm going anywhere with you," Jordan responded.
"It isn't open for debate," Reinken said. "Luthor is paying me a lot of money to ask 'How high?' when he says 'jump'. So you can either come with me willingly or my friends will drag you out kicking and screaming. And after that scene I just witnessed, I doubt you're in any condition for another wrestling match. Do yourself a favor and come quietly."
Jordan held his gaze for another moment before reluctantly starting for the door. Motioning for his accomplices to escort her out, Reinken glanced at the bodies on the ground.
"Amateurs," he muttered.
He turned on his heel and followed the others out of the warehouse, where Reinken's men escorted Jordan to a waiting helicopter and helped her climb inside. Once everyone was aboard, it lifted off and headed out to sea.
WAYNE AEROSPACE
Security personnel at Wayne Enterprises had informed Bruce of Jordan's abduction just over half an hour after she was taken, when a guard patrolling the lot found the discarded keys next to Bruce's Mercedes and instructed the security office to check the tape. Alternating between rage at her kidnapping and fear for her safety, he had broken more than a few speed limits on the drive to the hangar. Upon reaching the hanger, Bruce stormed inside and slammed the door behind him. Loosening his tie as he strode toward the main hall, he bellowed for Alfred.
"Alfred! Where are you?"
"Right here, sir," Alfred responded, materializing seemingly from nowhere at the summons. "Master Kent and Miss Prince are waiting for you in the main bay."
"These bastards are going to regret the day they were born," Bruce vowed, and released a frustrated curse as the men made their way to the hangar. "Damnit! I should have known better than to let her go anywhere alone with these zealots running around."
"Perhaps you should look at the glass as half full, Master Bruce," Alfred suggested. "Given Miss Jordan's mercurial temper, they may very well be happy to return her to you once they've gotten a sample of it."
Bruce almost smiled at that. "One can only hope, Alfred."
The men strode into the hangar and found Diana and Clark waiting for them, having been summoned by a new high-frequency emergency signal created by Bruce, which was only audible to meta-Humans.
"What's going on?" Diana asked.
"Jordan's been kidnapped," Bruce told him. "A group of three men abducted her from the parking lot at Wayne Tower about an hour ago."
"Damnit!" Clark exclaimed. "I should have killed Luthor when I had the chance."
"In light of your history it's almost a given that your private little war is only going to end when one of you is dead," Bruce replied. "Let's make sure it's him."
THE LUCKY DEVIL
Luthor was on the bridge of his yacht when one of the guards informed him that Reinken had arrived with Jordan and he made his way to the main deck to greet them.
"A pleasure to finally meet you, Jordan," Lex said. "You don't mind if I call you Jordan, do you?"
"Not at all, Lex," Jordan replied sarcastically.
"I'm sorry to see that the imbeciles Franz hired to abduct you felt it necessary to bruise up that pretty face, but even so I can see why Bruce Wayne wants to keep you for himself."
Jordan shot him an icy glare but said nothing.
"You've been quite the busy little bee, haven't you?" Luthor asked rhetorically. "All you had to do was stick to playing savior for the animals and keep your nose out of places it didn't belong."
Jordan glanced at Reinken. "Just out of morbid curiosity, how did you and Mark Ross get involved in with Animal Avengers?"
"Oh, come now, Jordan; you're an intelligent woman," Reinken said placatingly. "Who do you think created the group in the first place?"
"Are you telling me that Animal Avengers is your brain child?"
"We certainly couldn't do what we needed to do in our capacity as PEACE executives," Reinkin pointed out. "Drastic times call for drastic measures and the people of this planet need to be stopped from destroying the world around them."
"I'm as disgusted by destruction of the natural world as you are but that doesn't give you the right to play God and take the lives of the people who are doing the harm. Don't you know that you've essentially destroyed everything that PEACE has built over the last 25 years?"
"What have we built, Jordan, really? Nothing has changed since the company was started so many years ago. It's only gotten worse. You know that better than most. Think about all of things you've seen in the field over the years, working for PEACE and for Interpol."
"Every war has its casualties, Jordan," Luthor added.
"Don't preach to me about the casualties of war, Lex," Jordan snarled, her emphasis on his name twisting into almost a curse. "How many people were killed when you blew up the US Capitol? How many were put in danger with your pathetic attempt to make Batman kill Superman in Metropolis?"
"I will admit that it was quite frustrating when his new friends managed to bring Superman back to life," Luthor remarked. "And twice now you've survived an assault that should have killed you. Why can't either of you just die like you're supposed to?"
"Fuck you."
Luthor chuckled. "Such ugly language from such a beautiful woman," he chided, and gestured to one of his guards. The man wordlessly withdrew a cell phone from his pocket and handed it to Luthor.
"Now that we've gotten the small talk out of the way, it's time to send a message to your brother and invite him to join our little party."
Lex pressed a button on the phone and small light began to blink, indicating it was recording.
"Hello, Clark. As you can see, I have someone here that belongs to you. Say hello to your brother, Jordan."
"I'd give real money if you would shut up," Jordan retorted.
"Ah; there's the temper I've heard so much about."
"Get rid of the goons with the guns and I'll give you a free sample," Jordan said tightly.
"Such a feisty one, aren't you? Clark, why don't you put on your favorite blue suit and come out to my yacht for a little chat? We have so much to catch up on. And make sure you come alone."
Luthor ended the recording and after pressing a few buttons to send the message, tossed the phone aside. "I'm sure your brother will be here in no time once he receives my invitation," he said. "Let's just wait, shall we?"
"Do you really think you're going to get away with this?"
"My own fate is not important. What matters to me is that your brother will spend the rest of his life knowing I took something from him that can never be replaced."
"If Bruce doesn't kill you, my brother will," Jordan declared.
"Idle threats from a dead woman," Luthor retorted, and glanced at Reinken. "Take her below and lock her in one of the guest rooms."
Reinken nodded and gestured at his accomplices, who shoved Jordan toward the stairs.
WAYNE AEROSPACE
In the hangar, the quartet was discussing the possible locations where the kidnappers may have taken Jordan when Clark's cell phone beeped. Pulling it out of his pocket, he glanced at the screen and saw the notification of an incoming email message. Not recognizing the sender's address, he glanced at the others.
"I just got a message from an unknown sender," he said. "It can't be a coincidence."
"What does it say?" Diana asked.
"It says 'Play Me', and there's a video attached," Clark replied.
"Let me download it into the computer," Bruce requested.
Clark handed Bruce the phone, and the other man crossed over to a computer panel a few feet away. Tucking the phone into a slot on the server, he input a few commands in to the system and moment later the small video screen flared to life, revealing a disheveled Jordan. Her face was adorned with a few scratches and her left cheek bore a visible bruise from where the one kidnapper had struck her.
"I'm going to snap the neck of whichever piece of shit gave her that bruise," Bruce muttered harshly.
The group listened to Luthor's message in silence and when it was over, exchanged knowing looks.
"This is just another game to him," Clark said. "Once again he's purposely using someone I care about as bait to lure me into a trap."
"If all of us show up, he's likely to kill Jordan outright," Diana cautioned.
"He intends to kill her regardless," Alfred pointed out. "It's just a matter of whether he does it before or after Master Kent is there to watch."
"And then he'll take another shot at Clark," Bruce added. "It's a given that he's still got Kryptonite in some form or another that he's going to use to kill you once he takes care of Jordan."
"Bring it on," Clark declared. "I'm willing to risk it if that will buy you enough time to rescue Jordan."
"Respectfully, Master Kent, I'm certain your sister, your mother and Miss Lane would see it differently," Alfred responded.
"Alfred's right," Diana said. "We lost you once, Kal; we won't let it happen again."
Clark sighed. "Well, the clock is ticking so I am open to suggestions," he replied.
A beep from the computer interrupted the conversation and Bruce walked over to the panel. After briefly reading the message on the screen, he glanced back at the others.
"I was able to trace the origin of the signal from Luthor's email. Based on these coordinates, he's anchored off the US East Coast, somewhere between 30 to 40 miles off shore."
"His location seems to indicate that he's in International Waters," Alfred said. "Conveniently out of reach of the authorities."
"He's not out of mine," Clark declared. "It's time to resolve my unfinished business with Luthor once and for all. I'll try to keep him busy long enough for the rest of you to retrieve Jordan and get her to safety."
"Since he's expecting you, it's a given he and his men will be armed to the teeth," Diana pointed out. "And as Bruce pointed out, he likely has a contingency plan to protect them all from you."
"I'll deal with that as it comes," Clark stated. "My priority – our priority – is ensuring Jordan's safety."
"Agreed," Bruce said. "Diana and I will change and meet you there as fast as we can."
Clark nodded and started for the hangar exit, changing into Superman as he did so.
"What can I do to help, Master Bruce?" Alfred inquired.
"Be on standby to send in the cavalry once I confirm that Jordan is safe," Bruce told him.
"Certainly, sir."