Orientating the Board: Resume Session

Going over bland paper trails was incredibly boring but unfortunately, it was an important part of detective work. And like many aspects of investigating, if you weren't paying close attention you could miss something. Renee was reaching the point where she felt like her eyes were going to glaze over from looking over the same sheets for yet another time, which meant it was time to take a break.

It was no sooner than she had this thought, that a small thump from the window she had left open to get some air, caused her to jump. A young man, dressed in dark clothing with goggles covering his eyes was perched on the windowsill. There was a sort of ramshackle, thrown together-ness to his clothing, like he had hurriedly tried to put on armour over a hoodie. Also, he was clutching a plastic bag in one hand.

"Sorry," he said. "I tried to be loud enough that you would hear me coming."

Renee took a deep breath. "It's alright. So you're that vigilante that Kate was talking about."

"Is she here right now?"

"She and Gordon are out looking into a lead. Did you need something?"

"I found Falcone."

"Really? Where is he?"

"He got away. But I managed to get this from him." Renee had been so startled by his appearance that she hadn't looked closely at the bag. He held it out for her to inspect and she took it looking it over. The bag was larger than the bags they usually used for evidence but the short sword inside was larger than a handgun. If Renee looked closely at it in the light, she could see there was a bit of blood on it.

"It should have his fingerprints on it," the vigilante continued. "That can be the evidence we need to make a legitimate arrest."

"You're sure there are no other fingerprints on it?"

The figure, who had somehow half-melted into the shadows as soon as he entered the room, just held out a hand. Yep, those were definitely the claw tipped gloves Kate had told her about. "I was wearing these the whole time. And I got a bag for it as soon as I could."

"I can definitely see how that woman mistook you for a Talon."

"What woman?" He sounded genuinely confused.

"A woman posted about seeing a Talon fighting a guy with a silver mask. Considering what Falcone now looks like we figured that had to be you."

"I don't know what you're talking about."

"Trying to convince me you're not as active as you appear to be?"

"No. But I'm guessing you know something of the background of this," he gestured to his outfit, "And you know why I'd quite like to keep it down."

Renee shrugged. "Alright. Just make sure to check in with the rest of us here at the station regularly so we know what you're doing. And don't follow in the footsteps of the myths that made that get-up famous in their violence and trail of bodies."

"I have absolutely no intention of that."

"Alright." He seemed serious. Renee hoped he stuck to it. "The sword is good evidence if it does have the fingerprints. I can take it to-" Someone they could trust not to "lose" the evidence and would be understanding about it coming from a mysterious source and some secrecy so know one else would "lose" it. Daniel maybe? No. Or- she was on vacation wasn't she. But then- "We don't have anyone to give it too."

"What?" Renee couldn't see most of the shadow's face but she could imagine the expression. Her's was probably a similar mix of shock and disappointment.

"If we take a look at it in the station, there is a high probability of it disappearing if we give it to the wrong person. I can't think of anyone available I could trust with it. I could ask Kate but we know most of the same people. I don't think I could find someone even if I went to another precinct."

The shadow looked down at the bag. "So what do we do?"

"It needs to be analysed if we're going to use it as evidence. If we could even get it organized by a private group, then we'd have something to show the higher-ups as proof. They'd still have to do the tests again in an official setting but there would be more of a record of it, more people knowing about it, so it couldn't go missing." Renee began racking her brain. "I don't know who we could ask though-"

"I might know somebody."

"Seriously?"

-.-.-.-

Zee-Cue drummed her fingers on the table as she watched the video. Doug groaned and shook his head.

"So," he said, "This is what the Kit was up to?"

Tobias sighed, "I've made a couple of accounts and made several comments on her videos. I suppose we should be glad this isn't viral."

Zee-Cue cocked her head, "So our goal is to misdirect her? Keep the Court off the Kit's scent?"

Tobias nodded grimly and got up. "Alright, we know what to do later during the lulls. Time to open the HangOut. Make sure you keep an ear out."

-.-.-.-

The Head of the Gotham Lodge glared at the Chapter Head of the Labyrinth. "First, you lost our Gray Son. Then, you fail to retrieve him to restore him to his proper place. We should never have allowed you to proceed with the proposed plan of making him the perfect balance of Talon and Parliament. He needed to be groomed differently! How many times have we said that your Chapter interpreted the prophecy wrong?"

She bore the look with all the grace of a marble sculpture. Unaffected. Still.

"With all due respect sir, the Gray Son was truly more than we could've ever hoped for. Till now we still have not been able to find how he left the Labyrinth. Besides, we have a plan, we know how to get him to return to us. And willingly."

"Please, do tell. He can't just disappear, not now. The Waynes, damn them, somehow have outmaneuvered us. They don't even know the treasure in their hands."

"Sir," another Chapter Head interjected, "We believe the evidence points that the Waynes believe it's serendipity. They did unknowingly try to prevent us from delivering the Gray Son into our hands before."

"Ah yes. Ms Randall was a marvellous tool. Shame it ended the way it did with her." The Lodge Head stroked his chin once, twice. "Alright. I've seen your proposed plans, Phoebe. You may proceed."

The Head of the Labyrinth smiled and disconnected from the Skype conference. She turned to the Talon who had been waiting the entire time on one knee, head bent.

"Your orders are set. Go."

AN: So! It's been a while! Sorry about that. I finished up my final exam season for my degree and ThreeBlackCats got her vaccination! That's one of us two! Regarding my final exam season? I passed! Just need to complete a couple of hours and I will officially have 'graduated'!

At least you got a quadriple upload? The schedule should be back to normal now, see you next fortnight for our next little arc. ( •̀ ω •́ )✧ It's gonna shift the field.

Thanks once again for reading! If you'd like to contact us via tumblr, my handle is eastoniablogs! Reviews appreciated!

Cheers,

East