Chapter 30

Open Up...

"Oh my man…" Claudia muttered under her breath as Mr. Court entered the interview room.

Claudia was by no means a small person, closer to the average size for a woman. However, when she was confronted by Mr. Court, she looked almost like an ant next to the giant hulk of a man. He stood at least a foot and a half, if not two feet taller than herself, and his biceps were about the size of her head, and his muscles were very well defined, and he was ripped.

"Hello, Miss Claudia?" Mr. Court asked.

"Y- Yeah! That's me!" Claudia replied, failing to hide her initial shock at his size.

Whether or not Mr. Court realized it was unknown as he didn't respond to her stutter. Instead, he extended a massive hand towards her, and she took it. Claudia saw in her peripheral vision her tiny hand get entirely swallowed up by his giant hand. This made her feel even smaller than she already did.

The interview had been pushed up due to Mr. Court's insistence on getting started as soon as possible. While not wanting to move the interview, Claudia relented at the request of Irene, who was really eager to see if this guy was as good as his resume made him sound.

However, now Claudia was regretting it. She felt very intimidated by his presence. She wasn't sure if it was just her initial nervousness meeting new people, this guy's sheer size, or some other third thing. However, what she did know is that every second she spent looking at him, she just felt smaller and smaller and smaller.

"Alright." Claudia said as the two let go of each other's hands and sat down, "Let's get started."

With a click of her pen, Claudia looked down at her clipboard with the questions she was going to ask him. She would then write down notes about his answers and how he answered them, take them back to Irene and Chief Z, and discuss with them what they wanted to do.

"Okay." Claudia said, "Have you ever had an interview with The Organization before?"

"No." Mr. Court answered.

"So then my first question is, how did you find out about us?" Claudia asked.

"Not too long ago, I had an encounter with The Fellowship of The Mistress." Mr. Court answered, "Then, about two weeks ago, I was contacted in person by a group of field agents. They gave me an ultimatum, either come work for them or forget everything, and I chose the former."

"Okay…" Claudia said, writing down a few notes, "So, you've never heard of us before then?"

"No." Mr. Court answered.

"Good." Claudia said before moving on to the following question on her list, "So when I did your background check, I saw that you had a felony DUI five years ago. Can you explain that one to me?"

"I drank and drove." Mr. Court said, taking full responsibility for his actions, "I was way drunker than I should have been doing 45 miles an hour over the speed limit driving down the wrong side of the highway. I also resisted arrest, but that charge was dropped."

"So you posted bail?" Claudia asked, thinking it was the only way he could be walking free right now."

"I took a plea deal." Mr. Court replied.

"So then, are you an alcoholic?" Claudia asked, "Or have problems with any other substances you want to disclose now?"

"Part of my deal was going through rehab." Mr. Court said, "I struggled at first, but eventually they locked me in a room and forced me to do nothing but wash dishes for a month before they let me out of that room."

"So you never left that room?" Claudia asked, more out of personal interest, "Not even for the latrine or sleep?"

"Nope." Mr. Court replied, "They had a toilet in the corner and mattress on the floor next to it."

"Interesting." Claudia replied, "So have you been clean since then?"

"I've been sober for four years." Mr. Court replied proudly, "And will never have another sip of alcohol in my life!"

"Good to hear." Claudia said, "So then I assume no other drugs then?"

"No." Mr. Court replied.

"Good." Claudia replied, "Let me tell you, down here, we don't get that stuff. When we're working down here, we're sober, and even when we are off duty, going to bars and drinking is highly discouraged as it interferes with the work, which is our number one priority."

"That's a very good thing." Mr. Court replied.

"It is." Claudia agreed, "Moving on, my next question is about your military service. Can you give me some details about that and your discharge as well?"

"Well, I was a commander of a small post in Afghanistan in 2006. You see, what had happened is our intelligence failed us hard, and we got hit by an absolutely massive and devastating attack by the Taliban. I was one of only a few survivors from that post, and since it was under my command, I felt disgraced and a failure. I was also injured in the attack, which, combined with my failure, led to my discharge."

"Hm…" Claudia let out as she wrote some notes down, "So, and this is just me trying to connect some dots, when you left the Army, you started drinking to combat depression?"

"Party." Mr. Court answered, "I was drunk before I went overseas, having been on the enlisted side the first five years of my career. However, it was after that that I stopped drinking for fun and drank to deal with my feelings, yes."

"Are you still depressed?" Claudia asked.

"I'm on antidepressants." Mr. Court replied.

"Suicidal?" Claudia asked.

"I haven't been for six years." Mr. Court replied.

"That's good." Claudia replied, "Now, going back for a minute, I just want to tell you that down here, we don't tolerate prejudice. I don't know if you hold any towards Muslims or Arabs, but that won't fly down here. We don't tolerate racism, sexism, homophobia, islamophobia, or any ism or phobia, for that matter. Down here, we're all humans trying to protect our species and our home."

"The only person I hold anything against were the people involved in that attack." Mr. Court said, "As far as I know, there is only one left alive, and I personally don't care enough to go hunt him down. But otherwise, I don't care as I don't hold any prejudices."

"That's good." Claudia said before moving the interview forward, "So carrying on after you got out, you went and worked for a smithing company that worked with tungsten, correct?"

"That's what we specialized in." Mr. Court replied.

"So you have experience with the metal?" Claudia asked.

"Extensive." Mr. Court replied.

"That's excellent!" Claudia replied.

As the interview dragged on, meanwhile, in Mount Justice, Polybius stepped out of his room only to be greeted by Superboy, Miss Martian, Wolf, and Zatanna.

"Hey Polybius." Superboy greeted.

"Hello, hello!" Polybius said.

"We've got a question for you." Superboy said.

"Okay." Polybius said, "Ask away."

"Do you have anything for us to do?" Superboy asked, "We don't really care what it is, but we're just bored out of our minds."

Polybius was not expecting that question. He had suspected it would have had something to do with the conversation they had the other day. However, with Zatanna, he should have really known better.

"Um… Let me think…" Polybius said, looking up at the ceiling as he thought before lowering his head and replying, "No, I don't have anything. I did all the cleaning already, and what's left requires technical skills that you all don't have."

"Then maybe some cool stories!" Zatanna piped up, "I mean, you seem like an interesting guy with interesting stories."

"Sorry, but I'm actually headed out." Polybius said.

"Since when did you clock out early?" Superboy asked.

"Well, normally I wouldn't be, but tonight, I've got a date." Polybius said.

"Oh, so you're finally going through with it." Zatanna teased.

"Yeah, finally." Polybius said, "And after Montezuma's whole thing with attack prisons just so our date would be delayed, Donna and I have decided we need to push it through sooner rather than later to remove that excuse."

"Makes sense." Miss Martian replied.

"Yep." Polybius said, "Now if you all will excuse me, I'm gonna go spend way too much time on my appearance and even more time mentally preparing myself for my first date."

"Wait." Zatanna said, "You've never been on a date?"

"Neither one of us has." Polybius said, "I think probably what'll end up happening is it'll just turn into our own thing like it always does. But honestly, I'd prefer that over trying to force something."

"That doesn't sound too bad." Miss Martian said, "Maybe we'll do a double date sometime."

"If tonight goes right." Polybius said, "Honestly, I'm super happy we finally went from 'it's complicated' to 'it's quietly official.' My goal is to make sure we don't go backward."

"Then we hope that everything goes well tonight." Superboy said.

"Thank you." Polybius said, "Now if you'll excuse me, I should really get going."

With that, Polybius left the group and began heading towards the Zeta Tube. The group stood by and watched him walk away as they had nothing better to do. Once he left, Zatanna looked back at his room.

"You know…" Zatanna started, "Polybius is off living with his mom, and he doesn't live here, then why does he still have this room."

"Well, I think the reason Polybius moved back in with Black Canary was to protect her from Montezuma." Superboy said, "She lives alone, and Polybius doesn't want anything to happen to her. But I don't think he intends to stay there long term. I think once the Montezuma threat has passed, he'll move back in here."

"So his stuff is in there?" Zatanna asked as she approached the door, "I wonder what he keeps in here?"

Zatanna opened the door and looked into the room. Both Superboy and Miss Martian were nervous about doing this, as they knew how Polybius would react if he found out they had been snooping around this room.

However, they didn't say anything after Polybius's genocide line yesterday. Both of them had lots of questions about that, and both really wanted to know more. They were both secretly hoping that Polybius would hang around so they could try to pry more information out of him.

"Now that's a big safe." Zatanna said, spotting the massive hulk of metal in the corner, "I wonder…"

Zatanna then walked into the room, leaving the other two outside. They looked at each other and exchanged looks before both wordlessly agreeing on a course of action.

"Wolf, stay here." Superboy said, "Bark if you see anyone coming."

Wolf then curled up down by the door, and the two followed Zatanna inside.

"Edoc eht kcarc dna eafe siht nepo!" Zatanna said as she waved her hands.

Nothing happened.

Zatanna looked slightly confused when the spell didn't work, as she had used it before. She wondered what she messed up for a moment before recomposing herself and trying again.

"Edoc eht kcarc dna eafe siht nepo!" Zatanna attempted again.

Again, nothing happened.

"I don't think you're going to break into that safe." Superboy spoke up, "Knowing Polybius, He's probably got some sort of anti-magic device protecting it."

"Yeah, right." Zatanna brushed off, "I don't think it's even possible to build that kind of a device."

"Never say never." Miss Martian spoke up, "There are ways to disrupt magic."

"Yeah, but not disable it." Zatanna said, "I've got some more spells that might work.

As Zatanna continued to use different spells and repeating to fail to open the safe meanwhile, Claudia and Mr. Court were wrapping up the interview.

"Alright…" Claudia said as she came to the final question on her sheet, "So last question, do you have any family connections, spouse, parents, loved ones, children, etcetera?"

"Spouse, huh?" Mr. Court asked.

"I'm not looking for a relationship right now." Claudia quickly shut down, "It's just a standard question we ask down here. With you working for us, it puts a target on their back just as much as it does yours. I didn't see anything on your application, but I have to ask to be in accordance with policy down here."

"I see." Mr. Court replied, a very slight sense of defeat in his voice that Claudia didn't catch, "Well then, no. My parents are dead, I've never been married or have any children, nor do I have any extended family I am aware of."

"Really?" Claudia asked, surprised to hear that answer.

"Yeah." Mr. Court replied, "Both of my parents were runaways when they were young and never got back in contact with their families."

Claudia wasn't sure why, but as those words left his mouth, she had a gut reaction that he was lying to her. Or at the very least, this wasn't the whole truth. She wasn't what it was that caused this reaction within her, as Mr. Court had thus far seemed very truthful. He had been very open and honest with her as far as she could tell.

However, she made sure to take note of it as her gut feeling had saved her life before. When it said something wasn't right, she trusted it.

"Alright." Claudia said, deciding not to address it as she had no evidence of his possible lying, "That's all from me. Do you have any questions?"

"My only question is when can I expect to hear back?" Mr. Court asked.

"If not later this week, then next week for sure." Claudia answered, "I've got quite a bit on my end to do, as well as keeping up with my work. I know you're eager to start working, so I'll do my best to push you through as best I can, saying we decide to hire you."

"And if I don't hear back by the end of next week?" Mr. Court asked.

"Then give me a call." Claudia replied.

With that, the interview ended, and Mr. Court left Claudia alone. As soon as the door shut behind him, Claudia let out a massive sigh of relief.

"Oh finally…" Claudia muttered to herself.

As the interview progressed, she did not start feeling comfortable around him. His intimidating figure had kept her a little on edge, and the entire time she had a severe nervous feeling in her chest. Now that he was gone, it was as if someone had lifted all of the weight off her chest, and she could finally relax.

After taking a moment to recover, she then gathered her things and made her way down to Irene and Chief Zs' office.

However, when she arrived, she found the 'out to lunch' sign on their door. Seeing this, she decided to head back to her own office and resume her work that she had fallen behind due to this interview.

Meanwhile, back inside Mount Justice, Zatanna's frustration had only grown with every failed spell.

"Ugh, come on!" Zatanna groaned, "How can this stupid thing not be open by now!?"

"Maybe it's a sign." Superboy spoke up.

Superboy and Miss Martian had watched Zatanna for the last fifteen minutes. If they hadn't been so bored, they would have jumped in a lot earlier and stopped her. However, because they were so bored, seeing Zatanna getting angry was interesting enough to them to keep them from stopping her.

Zatanna sighed.

"I don't get it." Zatanna said in a calmer tone, "I've used all these spells before, and they've worked on bank safes! How is this not open by now?"

"It's Polybius." Miss Martian said, "I'm sure he's done something to this safe to protect it from magic."

"Like what?" Zatanna asked, "If it's an enchantment, I may be able to break it."

"I don't think it's an enchantment." Superboy said, "Knowing Polybius, my guess would be that there is something inside the safe that is protecting it from you."

"If that's the case, then why don't you have a crack at it." Zatanna said, stepping back from the safe, "With your strength, you can probably just force it open."

"Not without breaking it." Superboy said, "Besides, I don't think we would want Polybius to know we snooped through this stuff."

"Yeah, we don't." Miss Martian agreed.

"So you're saying we should leave?" Zatanna asked, "And do what? Twiddle our thumbs to see who the faster twiddler is by the end of the hour? No thanks, but this is the only remotely interesting thing around here."

"I wasn't saying that." Miss Martian said as she stepped towards the safe, "I was saying, why don't I have a shot at it."

Using her mind powers, she began to try and open the safe. However, she quickly backed out of doing it.

"Nevermind." Miss Martian said, "I've never seen such a complicated lock before."

"Come on." Zatanna encouraged, "It can't be that bad."

"With how many moving parts are in that lock, it'd take me a long time to figure it out." Miss Martian said, "I can't just start anywhere. I have to start at the beginning and figure out my way through the lock without breaking it. And I don't want to risk accidentally breaking the lock."

"Are you sure?" Zatanna asked.

"I'm not risking breaking that lock." Miss Martian affirmed.

"So then the only way we're getting into it is with the combination." Zatanna said, approaching the keypad, "Any ideas? It looks like it's four digits."

"1 2 3 4?" Miss Martian offered.

Zatanna tried to code, "Nope."

"Shoot!" Miss Martian said, "Then it's got to be something personal. Anybody know what year he was born?"

"How abou 3." Superboy said.

"1453?" Miss Martian asked as Zatanna tried the code, "Polybius can't be that-"

"It worked." Superboy said, cutting her off, "I can hear the gears in the lock moving."

Sure enough, not long after saying that, the door to the safe popped open.

"Yes!" Zatanna said as she pulled it open.

However, her excitement was quickly shattered when she was greeted with what was on the other side of that door.

"Oh, you've got to be kidding me!" Zatanna said, "Another door!? Come on!"

As the trio began making attempts to get through the second door of the safe, meanwhile, in Black Canary's apartment, Polybius was doing precisely what he told them he would be doing and was investing way too much time into his appearance.

"How formal should I get?" Polybius questioned out loud as he held up the few dress clothes he had, "It's a first date, but it's with Donna. How formal do I need to get?"

As Polybius compared dress shirts, Dinah knocked on his door.

"Come in." Polybius answered.

"Hey Polybius, it's me." Dinah said as she opened his door.

"I hope so." Polybius said, recognizing her voice. "If it were anybody else, we'd have a serious problem."

As Dinah walked into the room, Polybius grabbed another formal dress shirt he had lying on his bed.

"Hm…" Polybius started, "Hey Mom, how formal do you think I need to get for this?"

"Depends." Dinah said, "What are you guys planning on doing?"

"After dinner, hell if I know." Polybius said, "So far, our plan is to do dinner together and then something afterward. What that something is, is still beyond both of us as we'll figure it out when we get there."

"You haven't already planned this?" Dinah asked.

"No." Polybius answered, "Honestly, it's like this every time I'm with her. We don't plan shit. When we hang out together, we figure it out as we go. It's always been that way between us. And the fact that we've decided to do dinner, is already way more planning than we ever do."

"Really?" Dinah questioned.

"Yep." Polybius answered, "We never plan things. We just go."

"That… doesn't sound like you at all." Dinah commented, "Usually, you try to plan ahead."

"Planning is more preparation." Polybius stated, "However, you and I both know that plans have a tendency not to survive long into the mission. So I see it more as a prep phase than anything else. And since things here change faster than the wind does, what's the point of planning when we can just make it up as we go?"

"I understand." Dinah said, "So if that's the case, then I wouldn't go super formal, but still better than normal. Even if it is Donna, you don't want to look like garbage on the first date."

"So this one?" Polybius asked, holding up a button-up dress shirt.

"A little more formal than that." Dinah said, "Maybe a white tee-shirt and a nice blazer would do."

"So then this one?" Polybius asked, holding up that combo.

"Oh yeah!" Dinah said, "And with those pants over there, that'd look really nice."

"Looks like I avoid the monkey suit then." Polybius commented, "Yay!"

"Monkey suit?" Dinah asked.

"That's what I called my dress uniform back where I come from." Polybius explained, "I hated that thing with a burning passion. I'm so glad I don't have to ever get in one of those again."

"It couldn't have been that bad." Dinah said.

"Considering we used protractors to line them up and went down the micrometer on measurements for tailoring, yeah. That's a monkey suit, alright." Polybius commented.

"Oh…" Dinah said, "Yeah, I can imagine that sucked."

"Oh yeah, it did." Polybius confirmed, "I would do everything I could to get out of wearing that damned thing."

"I bet." Dinah agreed before ending the conversation with, "Well, I'll let you get changed then. If you need anything, let me know."

"Thanks, Mom." Polybius replied as she left.

And there you have it! Chapter 30! I hope you enjoyed this chapter, don't be afraid to let me know what you think, and as always, have a good one!