Chapter 8~ Halfway to a Reunion

Batgirl's POV

I sat alone, perched on the edge of Wayne Enterprises roof. Tonight was an extra rarity in Gotham, not only was the sky clear, at least at this height, but there was a meteor shower- one I'd been excited to see for months before. Then, Dick had promised to take me, take a night of from patrol and just relax as old friends, for just one night.

I sighed, dangling my legs over the edge and setting my elbows back against the roof to lean back and look up. Even alone the sky was beautiful, the natural radiance of 'falling stars' trying to blur out the ugliness of the world and my thoughts single handedly. Instead, my mind helpfully supplied what Dick would be doing if he was with me, if everything was alright; likely telling a story of how acrobats like him were actually just stars trying to get back home, flipping and dancing in the light to try and draw a laugh.

At least he would have pre-invasion, before the weight of responsibility seemed to crush him, drowning out the light and fun that had only just started to return since Jason's death. Now, in his absence, the cloud seemed to spread to everyone else, in Bruce's souring demeanor and shorter sentences with each dead end, Tim's withdrawal, the Team's shorter tempers. It was hard to tell much we relied on Dick, on Nightwing, until he was gone.

Another blaze of light crossed the sky.

"Beautiful, isn't it?" The voice startled me from my left, and I quickly sprang to my feet as a flash of metal embedded itself in the ground where I had just sat.

"Who's there?" I demanded, sliding a few batarangs from my belt as I spoke, scanning the shadows before me.

"Oh? Don't remember me? Even after what you did?" I'm able to pinpoint the direction of the voice this time and I throw the batarangs in his direction, shocked when each of them are struck down by his own projectiles, stuck up in the roof between us.

"I don't know who you are, come out of the shadows." I growled, backing the balls of my feet to the roof's edge as I grabbed a handful of smoke pellets this time, carefully concealing my movements as I spoke. He laughed instead, sending chills of familiarity up my spine.

"Are you asking me to jog your memories?" He sounded closer this time so I took the opportunity to even the playing field, throwing the smoke pellets to the ground. Cover billowed up and I took the moments of confusion to dive towards the voice's origin but I only caught empty air. I managed to recover, falling into a roll back on my feet but my mystery assailant pressed his advantage, landing a powerful kick on my shoulder. I'm staggered from the blow and hit the ground hard, rolling dangerously close to the edge before gathering myself into a low crouch. "That's a rude way to ask."

"No ruder than ambushing me." There was a slight shift in the shadows along with his slight chuckle.

"Touche, let me make it up to you." I heard the familiar click of a safety as he stepped forward, raising a pistol level with my face. "Ring any bells?" I took a deep breath, trying to settle my nerves as I stalled for time. The figure before me was tall, having at least a few inches on me, with a lean build. His suit was dark, with a startling bright crimson on his chest, stretching over his shoulders and down his arms, like nothing I've seen before. Looking up my eyes caught on newly healed cuts on his skin, a particularly nasty one wrapped in near faded bruises around his neck. His facial features were still cast in shadow, a mask over his nose and eyes further obscuring his identity.

"I'm sorry, but I don't know who you are or what you want." His features twisted in annoyance, spinning the gun back up and into his holster.

"Then I'll just have to remind you, I believe this should serve as a good incentive?" He held up a flashdrive emblazoned with the W of Wayne tech, exclusively used inside the building beneath our feet. He twirled the drive between his fingers with an eased practice. "All of Wayne enterprises' secrets, on just one tiny drive. I wonder how much this could sell for on the black market?"

My blood chilled. The technology on that drive alone could prove disastrous in the wrong hands, but digging deeper one could find traces on the League's mainframe coded into it as well. With that information it wouldn't take much to bridge the connection between Wayne Tech and the League, putting our security and identities at risk under scrutiny.

I shifted, forced to reassess the threat of the man in front of me. Very few people in the world could break into Wayne Enterprises without tripping any alarms, and even fewer could download as much as he claimed to have without sending an alert straight to the Batcave where Batman was currently working. I would know, I'd help shore up the defense with Dick and Bruce, so tightly I couldn't infiltrate them without hours of work.

"What do you want from Wayne Enterprises?" I asked, stalling for more time as I pressed an alert on my belt, signaling the others. His mouth tugged to a frown, gaze flicking to my hands.

"Trying to stall me while you call for help? And here I thought we agreed to play fair." Somehow he managed to sound actually wounded when he spoke, managing to catch me off guard when he attacked, throwing discs at my feet. I barely managed to avoid their sharp edges but I'm too slow to react more than pulling up my cape as a shield as they began to beep.

The explosion threw my balance off, tangling me in my cape, and trapping my arms as I careened off the side of the building. I'm launched into open air, arms too caught up to reach my grapple as I free-fall to my death.

:D

~Fate