Disclaimer: Based on characters and references created by DC Universe and the CW, which I do not own. Enjoy!
As the elevator reaches the dark, slightly dank cave where their operation is set up, Luke can hear Kate talking.
"Yeah, I know I said I would be back home tonight, but something came up." She speaks quickly, her tone sounding like one of guilt. "I'll just be a couple hours late coming home…No, I'm helping out an acquaintance." After a little while, a chuckle can be heard. "Yeah, yeah. Another hero. I'll be back home. I promise." As Luke nears ground level, he sees a small smile across her face. "Yeah…I love you too Maggs."
She hangs up the phone just as the elevator touches down and the doors open.
"I'm guessing that was the wife?" Luke jokingly deduces.
Kate nods. "I just finished explaining that we had to delay movie night until tomorrow."
"Action movie?"
"Sitcom. It was her turn to pick."
"Oh, that's right." He walks up to her and reports, "I just gave the fake ID's to Oliver and William. They're on their way to Arkham now."
"Good," Kate acknowledges. "I just prepped the Bat Plane, so we can take off immediately."
"Actually," Lucius says, stopping Kate from walking towards the suit display case behind her. "I've been wrapping my whole head around the whole reality switching situation and…you know…"
"William being Oliver's Queen's son from the future, who we save in another timeline?" Kate accurately predicts.
Luke nods. "I can see a strong resemblance between him and the guy who's supposed to be Oliver Queen, but it just seems…coincidental. Too good to be true. How do we even know this guy is who he says he is? Or that he helps us find Bruce?"
Kate looked down at the floor, biting her lip. After a moment, she looks back up and assures, "I would've known if he was lying. Trust me."
Luke raises his eyebrow slightly, but eventually gives Kate the benefit of the doubt.
"I'll get ready."
He walks away and prepares to put on his suit. But as he breaks her line of sight, he hears her exhale loudly, confirming that there was something she did not bring up. But Lucius didn't want to push her.
Whatever they talked about must've been personal. At least for her.
"We met? In some alternate reality?"
"Well, alternate timeline, to be more precise. But yes, we've met. And I help you find Bruce Wayne. The Batman."
She put the Batarang down and stood up, her hands placed firmly on her desk. She stared him down in an attempt to intimidate him. "Prove it. Tell me something about myself that only I know."
William Queen, or so he claimed to be, slightly shook his head. "You might not like where it goes."
"I'm pretty resilient."
William placed his hands on his hips, looking up at the Wayne Enterprises Crest behind her. He takes a deep yet calm breath and then looks back at her. "Alright. The first time you've met Batman, you were outside a bar, drunk. You took a turn into an alleyway you thought led to the street where a friend was going to pick you up. Instead, you ran into members of Bane's gang. They started hustling you, and you tried to fight back. But you were being beaten, laying face down on the concrete. You knew what they were going to do to you. You were screaming, begging for help, even when they said no one was coming. But then, those same men started screaming. When things became silent, you turned around, and in front of you was the Batman standing over the unconscious bodies of the criminals. He extended a hand to you, but you were too stubborn to take it. He left without saying anything, but he knew that, deep inside, you were thankful. Later inspired by his heroics. You spent the next two years receiving training around the world, with help from your father."
Her arms began feeling wobbly as she heard the event being accurately told to her. It got to the point where she pushed off of them. She didn't realize it until now, but her eyes were open to the point of never closing, a single bead of sweat dripping from her hair "How…how do you know all of this?"
"Bruce told me, said that no one else but you and him knew about that night. He told me in case you didn't recognize me when we met again or, in this case, you could see me as an ally."
Kate looks at her suit with the red Bat symbol and long-haired wig, modeled to be similar to Bruce's design. She wanted so desperately to emulate him, to honor him. She never expected to be taking his place for three long years. But now, knowing that she will see him again, she can't help but think back the night he saved her. How she would have done that one thing differently. How she would have said what she wanted to say to him for so long.
She walks up to it and places a hand on the symbol.
I'll see you again Bruce. Soon.
"While Arkham may not be the most secure place in the world, they do have countermeasures against meta humans, and it is a large complex. One person won't be able to move everywhere alone discretely."
Disguised, Kara pushes J'onn's wheelchair towards the receptionist's desk. She sees a nurse who is reading a "Times" Magazine.
"Uh, excuse me," Kara calls out as they reach the desk. The nurse looks away from her magazine, sitting herself up as straight as possible. "I'm here to drop this guy off. He's a… special case."
The woman stares at J'onn, who is restrained by a patient's jacket. Still, he is able to shift shape into an elderly white human male and then back. But the woman's eye's only wince slightly, indicating that she has seen a shape shifter before, or maybe one too many meta humans.
"All right," She acknowledges calmly. She presses a button on the intercom in front of her and says, "We got a shape shifter. Prep a meta-human cell."
When she is done, she reaches into her desk and takes out what looks to be a metal collar. "Keep his head still please."
Kara does as the nurse asks, placing both hands on J'onn's head. The nurse then stands up and leans across to place the collar on his neck. J'onn grunts a bit as it latches onto him tight and flashes a red light.
"This collar will dampen the patient's powers until you transfer him over," The nurse explains. "They'll be down the hall there and to your left. You're to then go to the warden's office and give your report to Dr. Deegan, our head psychologist."
Upon hearing that name, Kara asks, "Is he in there now?"
"He's examining other patients, but I'll let him know you've arrived. Proceed inside please."
Kara pushes J'onn's chair into the hallway to their right, continuing until they are out of the nurse's line of sight. Looking around to see if no one else is here, she slowly breaks J'onn's collar apart with her super strength.
"All clear."
Quickly, J'onn morphs out of his jacket and changes into his normal human self, now sporting the Arkham uniform William showed to them through his phone.
"Now, let's get to the Warden's office quick," J'onn says, taking the directions that the nurse described. "Remember, if anyone asks, the patient tried to get out—"
"And you placed him in a more nearby cell in an emergency. Let's just hope that story gets us to the Warden's Office."
"A few of us will stay outside in case Deegan makes a break for it. Meanwhile, Kara and J'onn will take the East Wing, where they keep many of the patients…"
"While Dad and I take the West Wing, where the Doctor's offices are."
"And Mr. Deegan's office is just this way," the neurologist points out, leading them towards a door that William does not recognize.
"His office is through there, at the end of the hallway. But I would strongly advise waiting for him to return before—"
"We can't," Oliver says. "CCPD and ARGUS need results."
As they walk towards the door, the neurologist points out, "I-I will have to tell Mr. Deegan about this intrusion!"
As they open it, William whispers, "Good."
Beyond this door they see about a dozen others, each of them with a little window to see through and bearing a plaque next to them. As they start walking through, the cell doors' unique features become more discernible. One door farther down has green question marks painted around it, another with the names of the months and holidays. William looks at the names of each plaque, seeing names that he recognizes, such as "Jonathan Crane," "Victor Zsaz," and even more.
"These are some of Batman's rogue's gallery," William points out quietly. "Why would Deegan set up shop next to—"
He stops as he lays eyes on the last door. The one surrounded by many "HAs!" He walks towards it slowly, noticing that the name plaque for the cell has been torn off. But he knows all too well who this one once belonged to. He looks inside, seeing nothing but a bed with two items on it: a patient strap jacket and a batman doll with precise tears all over it, most likely made by a knife. Still, William can feel as if he is still in there, laughing his last laugh.
"Connor," Oliver calls.
With his focus returning, William looks back and sees Oliver in front of a door with Deegan's name plaque next to it.
Oliver opens the door and they both head inside. But what they see didn't look like an office, but a lab mixed with a museum exhibit. On the far side of the room is a normal desk with a computer on it. But behind it were various beakers of chemicals on a shelf. Towards the center was a table with wrist restraints. To the sides were bookshelves filled to the brim with encyclopedias about the human body and mind, with a few about genetic mutations, as well as displays of what appeared to be skulls and bones of animals.
"The book could be in one of those shelves," Oliver deduces.
"I'll check his computer for any additional information," William says.
William walks quickly behind the desk while Oliver checks the shelf near the entrance. To William's surprise, the computer is already logged on.
He must have put it in sleep mode only recently.
He clicks on the document app and scrolls through the various files until he finds the one labeled "Personal logs." He clicks on it, seeing a lot of files that have the names of the criminals outside. But one file name stuck out, "Batman Abandoned Us."
Was this from...
Curiosity gets the better of him and he opens the video. The first thing he sees is a close up of a clean shaven, younger Deegan.
"Okay, is thing on?" Deegan's face moves away to check the side of the camera. "Yep. It is."
Deegan moves away, revealing more of himself. Not only is he clean shaven, but also has a shorter haircut combed back into a mullet.
"Alright," Deegan says with a clap. "Action!"
As Deegan moves farther away, three other people can be seen behind him, another guy and two women. Deegan moves next to the woman with blonde hair and places an arm around her waist.
"Today commemorates the third year as a team of psychiatrists here at Arkham," Deegan explains as he takes a glass of Champaign from the table behind him. "We have accomplished a great deal since first forming our branch. We have brought HUNDREDS of patients back from the brink of insanity, and will go on to rehabilitate a thousand more. Or, so we hope."
The three others laugh at his remark. But William can't help but realize how right Deegan is. There was a time when Arkham actually did care about treating the mentally ill and the odd meta human. It was after Batman's disappearance that this reputation start to degrade when efforts to suppress mentally ill criminals skyrocket.
Good intentions can sometimes pave the way towards Hell. But they shouldn't.
"But for now, we raise our glasses to our successes and our future…" He turns to the blonde woman with a smile. "Especially ours."
As Deegan gives her a kiss on the forehead, William looks for and finds the wedding rings on both his hand and the woman's. Something he hadn't seen before because of the low video quality
That's his wife. Why hasn't she been mentioned before?
"To three years!" Deegan cheers as he raises up his glass.
The two other doctors raise their Champaign glasses, except for the woman who raises a glass of water, wide smiles on all of their faces. "To three—"
Suddenly, a loud bang of a door is heard. All four of them turn to the noise's source, expressions turning from happy to wide eyes or screams of terror.
"How the hell did he get loose?!" The male doctor yelled.
"The sins…of…these women," A sinister and familiar voice says. "Their souls…TRAPPED…within their SINFUL bodies."
Zsasz.
Deegan gets in front of his wife. "Stay behind me!"
"I…must release…them. I…MUST…KILL THEM!"
The body of Victor Zsasz charges in and grabs Deegan. He is thrown into the camera, rolling the picture around until it points in the opposite direction.
Only Deegan is shown, trying to get up as fast as he can. But he stops as soon as the noise of a shiv slicing flesh is heard. He just stays there, one knee supporting him, his jaw unclenched, looking as if it may never close.
The last thing William can hear is the sound of screaming, choking, and then guards struggling to detain Zsasz, but Deegan is frozen in that pose the entire time.
The video is then cut to younger Deegan once again, his eyes covered by his hands. But the background is not that of this office, but rather what looks to be an apartment, judging by the couch and picture of him and his wife above it. William can see his struggle to look at the camera, as if trying to look at a loved one to impart terrible news.
"They said that…Zsasz managed to escape his bindings as they passed our hallway. They gave us NO WARning." His voice cracks. "No alarm or message to prompt us to lock our office."
His moping face turns into a frown as he says, "But where was Batman?! Huh?! I-I never believed that he abandoned us, as the mayor kept touting. But she was right. If he were here, Batman would've helped with the escort, made sure Zsasz wouldn't have killed anybody. So, where is he? WHERE IS H—"
William, not wanting to hear anymore of this anger, skips ahead until the setting changes once again. It is still the apartment, but the couch's fabric is torn, the photo gone. Deegan now looks a little more like his present self, but his beard is stubble and his hair is half as long.
He looks into the camera with a grimace, explaining mockingly, "I have gone to various 'institutions,' and they all shower the same complaints on me. 'You show no compassion to your patients,' they say. Or 'You used them as guinea pigs.' Well, these 'patients' were psycho killers just waiting to be released so that they could prey on the innocent. All of them are! I see now I was wrong to mistrust Hugo's assumptions."
Hugo? Hugo Strange?
"I will take him up on his offer to come back to Arkham Asylum. He has promised to train me and modify my records using connections he has to some powerful people. Said he was part of some 'circle.'"
The Ninth Circle? That would explain why Caitlin didn't find a lot on him.
"He will teach me how to make a hero…by creating a monster."
That last sentence did not sit well with William. The last monster Hugo Strange created was one that could counter the Batman, developed from years of newspaper clippings, reports, and anything else on him. A counter loaned to him by the League of Assassins. While it did fail, it showed the chinks in Batman's armor, both physical and mental. How they found out he was Bruce Wayne.
Still, William does feel a bit sympathetic for Deegan. To lose the people you love can drive anyone to do anything to make sure no one else suffers the same fate. He would know. But that does not justify Deegan's actions. Nothing will.
Curious still, he scrolls down and looks at the list of names. He clicks on the video labeled "Frieze," believing this to be Victor Frieze, aka Mr. Freeze. Instead, he sees a woman strapped on the table in this room. She struggles to break free from her binds but does not succeed.
"Patient name: Nora Frieze," Deegan's voice says. He steps out into the center of the camera, his full beard and long hair now grown out. "Her spouse, Victor, was able to cure her of a cancer that is, according to specialists, impossible by today's medical technology. Upon examination, I have discovered a gene that has, in fact, froze the cancer entirely, preventing it from spreading further. A MUTATED gene." He walks towards the table, next to a tray of tools. "If my hypothesis is correct, then this gene may be a meta gene that, when awakened, can give her abilities as someone like that Killer Frost woman. A weapon for justice."
Nora Frieze tries to say something, but a bandage around her mouth muffles her words.
"Shhh," Deegan placates with a finger on her wrapped mouth. "You should be proud. You are going to become the hero this city needs, unlike that new Bat PRETENDER."
He walks past the tray and brings something that isn't in the office right now: a machine with wires attached to a headband. He slips the headband on Nora Frieze and fiddles with a few buttons. As the machine makes a whining noise, Nora Frieze starts to struggle even more, her muffled pitch high enough to be screams.
"Trust me," Deegan says as he twists his wrist, presumably turning a dial. "Once you've discovered your power, you'll THANK me."
Deegan presses one more button, then the machine emanates a high-pitched buzzing noise. Nora Frieze now writhes, her muffled screams more intense.
Upon realizing what Deegan was doing, William clicked out of the video. He leans down, his forehead cupped in his hands. He feels his eyes unable to close, just as he can't shut out the horrors he just saw.
He…he delivered shock therapy…in the hopes of activating a gene?! Was that Hugo Strange's manipulation or him finally becoming ins—
Suddenly, William hears the door they came from open. He quickly ducks down and peeks his head out, seeing Oliver hug the wall just next to the bookcase he was looking through. Coming through the doorway is their target, John Deegan. He speed walks into the room, clearing his throat and composing himself. When he sees no one in sight, he looks everywhere quickly.
"Where is he? He was supposed to be—"
"John Deegan?" Oliver asks.
Deegan jumps, turning around and seeing the hero before him. However, instead of being scared, he lets out a laugh.
"The Green Arrow!" His voice sounded enthusiastic, eager even, as he walks backwards towards one of the display cases. "Oh, it is just an HONOR to meet you, good sir."
Seeing no imminent threats around, William stands up, but walks out cautiously. "You know who he really is?"
Deegan turns around, his grin becoming wider. "And I know who YOU are, William Clay—no, no, no. QUEEN. That's right. Changed it to honor your pops here. VERY noble indeed."
William raises an eyebrow. "You know who I am?"
"Oh, the Book showed me SO much about you," Deegan excitedly explains. "God's mortal champion. And I could see why, given who trained you. Good old—"
"Deegan!" William yells out of reaction. He pauses for a moment to take a calm breath. "I know what happened to you. To your wife. I understand your pain. But that doesn't justify your actions."
Deegan chuckles. "Well, YOU'RE one to talk. You thought your actions were justified by what you read in your little Bible. You thought you could just run off—"
"Deegan, stop!"
"Make your way towards Gotham—"
"SHUT UP!"
"And get trained by the FREAKIN' Batman HIMSELF."
William chokes on his next words. His fist clenches and his eyes close tight. The secret he has been keeping for years is now revealed, and his father, of all people, has heard it.
"What?" Is all Oliver asks.
William opens his eyes, turning to face a possible disappointing stare for keeping yet another secret from his father. But Oliver just looks stunned. It was like looking at a man whose beliefs have become undone in front of him.
"Oh," Deegan utters, ending it with a chuckle. "That's right. You promised to keep that from everybody else. Well, this is what you get for keeping a promise for a coward!"
Upon hearing this, William argues, "The Batman had a reason for hiding!"
"But you know what?" Deegan interrupts, moving back towards a table across from one of the display cases. "I have to thank him for that. For not coming to my rescue. To my wife's or my friends'. It made me realize the FLAW you masked vigilantes keep hiding. Sure, you save the day, stop crime and evil, but ONLY for moments at a time. All you do is keep it at bay. But me? I'm finding the diagnosis. To treat this BROKEN city."
"By torturing your patients?!"
"No Will. I am awakening their abilities. CONDITIONING them. I will create meta humans who will TRULY keep this city safe. TRULY maintain order."
"I saw your 'conditioning' in one of your videos. Torturing Nora Frieze. You were trying to make her into a weapon who kills without remorse. Giving criminals NO trial. NO chance. You would make her and others like her play judge, jury, and executioner just to fulfill some obsession for security. An obsession stemmed from fear…and trauma." William stays cautious, slowly walking towards Deegan. "If you want to do the right thing, do it now. Set reality back to the way it was."
Deegan shrugs his shoulders. "Hm. I could. But…" he puts on a mischievous smile. "Why would I want to?"
William and Oliver slowly inch closer towards Deegan, who just stays in front of the table.
"You know why I haven't brought back my wife? Why I didn't manage to get the Flash's powers or your father's martial prowess? It's because reality changing has a bit of a…learning curve. There's a lot of factors. So, I decided to start with something simple. That being my position and…" Deegan's hand reaches for the bottom of the table. "…Infrastructure."
Suddenly, an alarm starts blaring. It catches William and Oliver off guard, but their attention does not divert from Deegan. But then, the sound of multiple doors opening and people yelling in the hallway outside grabs their attention for just a second. In that second, Deegan runs, not towards the entrance, but another door on the opposite side of the room. One that William failed to take note of.
Acting fast, William throws an arrowhead at Deegan, intentionally throwing it wide as if to miss. From the front of it, a tracker shoots out and hits Deegan's shoulder as he exits.
Oliver was about to go after Deegan, but William stops him.
"He can wait. Check the hallway."
Both of them rush out into the hallway, finding all the cell doors open, no sign of any of the prisoners.
"Damn it," Oliver curses. "Deegan was just playing us. Now he's bought himself time."
"Deegan can wait," William says as he reaches into his pocket. He looks around him to make sure no cameras are around and places the comm in his ear. "You remember where we placed the suits?"
"I do," Oliver assures. "I'll get yours!"
Oliver speed runs out and then back in an instant. William then sees Oliver's silhouette blurring around him and feels his suit being placed upon him one piece at a time. As soon as his bow and quiver are placed onto him, Oliver heads out to get suits for the others.
As his visor runs a quick diagnostic, William unsheathes his bow and proceeds towards where the prisoners ran off to.
Time to stop a mass breakout.
