In The Shadow of the Bat
Chapter 39
Vicki Vale was a attractive redhead, and knew she was good looking. She swiftly charmed the manager, was escorted to their table, and they were quickly offered the finest wine.
Teresa Ludlow-Dalt noted, "They really like you here."
Vicki waved that off as she said, "They're probably just hoping I'll put a good word in with the food reviewers."
"UH huh," Teresa noted, amused.
"Anyway, your agent, Catherine Weiss, and I are friends, and she thought we could collaborate on your Spider book," Vicki said. "I read her summary on it, but what's your take?"
Teresa was faintly pleased to have her ask that. "While my planned book would focus on the fourties villain Thomas Halloway aka Ludlow-Dalt, I also wanted to dig into the villain's family background and war with the Shade."
Vicki nodded as she listened to Teresa talk about the criminals that seemed to fill the bloodline of her ancestors. "They were not nice people," she noted dryly.
"No, not at all," Teresa agreed. "I mostly imagined this as a dry historical book," she admitted, "do you really think it can be mass marketed?"
"Oh, certainly," Vicki sipped her wine. She put the glass down and asked, "Can I ask you not to be offended, first?"
"Hit me," Teresa said wryly.
Vicki chuckled, "Oh, it's not too bad. I was thinking 'Legacy of Evil' for a title..."
As Teresa listened, she felt a bit of relief. Vicki didn't sound like she was going to tear her book apart, just dramatize it a bit. She was also willing to submit any re-written bits back to Teresa to make sure they were still historical accurate.
"So, works?" Vicki asked.
"We'll need to run it by our literary agents, but it sounds good," Teresa agreed.
"I have no problem with that," Vicki agreed. "I'll have Grace Hunter, my agent, call Catherine Weiss and let them hammer it out."
"Works," Teresa nodded. "Oh... I'd like to list you as a co-author on the mass-market version, rather than have you ghost-write it."
That actually surprised Vicki a bit. "I'm perfectly okay with ghosting it," she offered.
Teresa shook her head, "I'm reasonably well published at the university level. My academic colleagues would easily tell I hadn't written it. Besides, I don't really see the point..."
"Well, I appreciate it," Vicki smiled warmly.
They finished up their meal, as Teresa looked around nervously.
"What's wrong?" Vicki had to ask.
"I keep being jumped by supervillains whenever I meet with someone in public...," Teresa admitted sheepishly.
"Seriously?" Vicki blinked.
Teresa sighed as they both got up, "Well, hopefully this has broken the jinx."
They headed outside, then stopped.
"No, it hasn't," Vicki squeaked.
A group of sword carrying mooks were assembled, wearing old fashioned arabic armor. "Surrender Vale to us, and you will not be harmed!" the leader yelled.
Teresa looked at Vicki in confusion, "What."
"Ras Al Ghul kind of wants revenge on me for my ancestor screwing with him," Vicki admitted.
"What." Teresa repeated.
"RUN!" Vicki yelled and they bolted.
0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0
"Well, that's a thing," Comish James Gordon noted as the cops finished rounding up the sword using nuts.
"Thank you," Vicki sighed.
"Are they even in the country legally?" Harvey Bullock wondered aloud as he supervised the clean up.
Batgirl, who had also jumped in to the mess, noted, "They appear to be US sleeper agents of the League of Assassins."
"I'm just glad it's not my fault this time," Teresa muttered.
"We'll need you two to give a statement later," James nodded to both politely, "but no rush. I think the DA office won't be rushing this."
"It's pretty weird," Harvey agreed.
Mary Scott was watching the cops, her long hair pulled back in a pony tail. The albino was dressed in blouse and long pants, along with sunglasses. It was a cloudy day, but bright enough to hurt her light sensitive eyes.
"Sword using arab knights," Holly Robinson, her friend and fellow volunteer at the community center, shook her head.
"Gotham. There's never a dull moment," Mary agreed.
Holly pointed to one of the officers, "Isn't that your friend, Cathy Hendrix?"
Mary blushed faintly. "Yeah, stop pointing at her...," she complained.
Holly snickered softly. "Are you two dating now?" she asked as they moved off from the crowd around the cops. They were in the East End of Gotham, not far from the community center.
Mary went even more pink, if possible.
"What!" Holly pressed.
"We're going out," Mary admitted, "but we haven't... uhm..."
"She hasn't jumped your bones," Holly noted.
"Do you have to be so blunt?" Mary groaned.
"Yup. Do you know why?" Holly asked. "She seems really into you."
"She's sweet and polite, and treats me with great care," Mary said shyly. "but so far, all she's done is kiss me good night."
"Clearly, you need to drag her into your apartment and have your way with her," Holly pointed out cheerfully.
"HOLLY," Mary blushed furiously.
Holly just laughed. "You can borrow one of Selena's leather body suits, maybe," she suggested as they went inside, "bet THAT would get her attention."
Mary actually thought about that for a second...
0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0
Spoiler had also been watching the craziness, in her case the hooded, bodysuit clad heroine had been on a nearby rooftop.
Batgirl used her nearly superhuman agility to land soundlessly nearby.
"I wish you had told me you were going undercover," Spoiler said after a moment.
"It had to be secret," Batgirl replied, the mostly black garbed heroine adding, "for all our sakes. If you knew, you could be used against me."
Spoiler grunted. She had found out much later that Cass had faked going evil and joining the League of Assassins to save Nyssa and bring them down. Admittedly, some of her annoyance came from her various plans to go after them, herself...
"I am sorry I couldn't tell you," Batgirl said softly.
Spoiler sighed but nodded. "So... you and Nyssa? Really?" she teased.
Batgirl looked shy, "Yes, it just... kind of happened."
"Let's get together sometime," Spoiler suggested, "I'fd like to meet her."
Batgirl smiled under her mask, "I'd like that."
They talked for a bit, then Spoiler swung off. She made her way back to the loft she was renting, then snuck inside. She changed to street clothes, then headed over to the nearby cafe.
Catalina Flores, aka the Tarantula was waiting outside. "Are we hitting anyone tonight?" Cat asked, the black haired woman smiling nervously.
"Not tonight, there's rumours some of the League of Assassins are in town," Steph cautioned.
"Seriously?" Cat asked, alarmed.
"They attacked two targets mid-town," Steph confirmed.
They saw Holly Robinson walking with a albino woman, whom Cat recognized from the community center. "Holly, Mary," she nodded to them.
"Coming to the dance tonight?" Holly asked them cheerfully.
"I'll think about it," Steph laughed. "I'm dateless, sadly."
"I'm sure we could hook you up with somebody," Holly added as they moved on.
"I'd take you," Cat noted to Steph, "but sadly I like dick."
Steph snorted. "Me too, annoyingly enough..."
To be continued...
Notes: It's actually canon that an ancestor of Vicki's pissed Ras off, and he's plotting revenge. Sadly it got dropped during the NU 52 reboot.
In the early chapters I had Spoiler kind of investigating the Batgirl situation, but then sorta dropped it. So, wrapping that up a bit.