By some miracle, all shifts fit together the next day. Dick called off work- he rarely used personal days, and wasn't vital to the success or failure of Wayne Enterprises. Kori had been personally banned from the station by Senior Detective Renee Montoya until her shift started at four. Vic had just been to court as the officer for issued speeding tickets. Gar let the other partners in the business take over. Rae was still on her own schedule, and knew that Vic wouldn't call her for anything less than an emergency.
They met at a neutral restaurant for lunch- good hamburgers, killer vegetarian menu. Dick and Kori sat next to each other, taking the back of the corner booth. Vic and Mare, still in dress uniform, took one side. He had insisted that Mare come- she was just as involved with Morrigan as he and Kori were. Rae sat beside Gar, with an expression reminiscent of her days in the Tower when she was about to make some threat. He didn't say a word- the light bulbs in the place were all intact, and could stay that way.
Dick had a familiar look in his eye- Robin was taking over. Vic was still far away in thought, so he let Dick take control. "She's getting information before Oracle. She's one track-minded enough to make Batman look careless. She's more obsessed with Slade than I am. The police want information, I want to get Slade."
"You know, other people do lunch to catch up on gossip, have fun, plan reunions, or maybe just to enjoy the company. We are, again, indirectly discussing Slade."Gar quailed under a barrage of death glares. Rae was in a bad mood, Vic was completely serious, Dick was always too focused, even Kori was upset, and Mare- she was a class all her own. He was ready to confess to a few minor crimes from childhood. "Okay, I have no leads, and couldn't find a real scent to track as a wolf. Catwoman called me after the rendezvous- nothing definite."
"I asked an old acquaintance to put pressure on- no names." Dick glared at Gar. No one outside the booth had heard, but a little source-client confidentiality never hurt. "She did so, and doesn't have a name, but says that the assassin was really close to Vic."
"I've been staking her out for years. I caught my first glimpse with Vic in the car."
Vic shrugged. "She likes me. I've been trying to track where she lives, but it always points directly at the area next to the station."
Kori had left her stacks of paperwork at the department. "All I have is the knife that she dropped- no prints, clean as a whistle, down to the engravings."
"She knows her business. She's definitely inside." Mare had been with the department too long- she knew people too well. "The station has two suspects chosen- it's between the two shortest women who don't have concrete alibis. Kaitlin of adulterer fame and Jenny Wilkinson. Neither seems likely to be the Morrigan."
Raven frowned, sipping from the ice-water always left out at restaurants. Mare was doing the same. The rest avoided water like it was the plague. "Wait a second- I've heard that name before."
"Well, we've all been talking about her for a week now," Kori said. Gar had gestured very quickly, still scared of saying such a thing to her. She had left the room when he asked which channel she would prefer, and had melted a glass paperweight.
"No. No one said Morrigan. People have said assassin, killer, Kori's obsession- no Morrigan." She tapped the table, running her fingers in some odd design- a sign that she was trying not to let emotions get out of control. "Spell Morrigan."
Kori decided to humor her friend. The very dangerous don't-mess-with-me-or-you'll-regret-it look could have had something to do with her decision. "M-O-R-R-I-G-A-N."
Raven turned to the side, a polite thing to do when doing a spit-take. Gar was relieved- one thing had gone right for him for the day. The bad part was that he was probably finished, and the ring in its box was still heavy in his pocket. "That knife you found- did it have any knot-work? Intertwining lines, shapes, designs- possibly of snakes?"
"Funny twisty designs? Yes." Kori had studied the knife for clues. So had Dick. So had Vic and Mare.
"Any dogs?" Raven ignored strange looks.
"One, yes. An Irish setter, by all guesses, but with a snarl on its face- female dog, or a male carved to be politically correct."
"Who told you Morrigan had no significance?"
"Jenny Wilkinson."
"There's your assassin."
Vic, Kori, and Mare looked at each other for a moment. For almost a full minute, there was dead silence. Then, simultaneously, they started laughing. "Jenny?"
"Yes, if she couldn't find Morrigan."
"It does mean something?" Vic asked.
"Just type that word into any search engine and you'll have all the information you could ever hope to have. Gotham's used to theme crimes, and I know there are filters for that sort of name. Celtic mythology- she's Irish, right?"
"Right."
"Then she'd know about the Morrigan. Celtic mythology is more original than the Greek, but not as dark as Norse. The Morrigan is a tri-fold goddess, but her most famous form is Crone." She drew blank looks. "Tri-fold goddesses have three forms: Maiden, Mother, and Crone. They are all three at once, an ancient belief always coupled with a female deity. The Catholic church first adapted the idea of a trinity to a male figure, but earlier civilizations take credit for most all tales of Christians, Greeks- everybody."
"What does that mean?" Dick asked.
"The Morrigan takes souls of the dead from battlefields, and has hell-hounds as eternal companions- like on the knife. If you saw the Morrigan washing your clothes, you knew you were going to die. She's a pretty popular goddess among those interested in culture."
Vic was still in shock. "You mean- any search engine could find her."
"Yes. I mentionedthat. Test it if you like, but I'll bet any amount of money you'll find her."
"You mean- Jenny Wilkinson has been fooling the entire department for years."
"That's about right." She frowned. "Wilkinson? Is she a red-head?" She took shocked looks for a 'yes.' "Because a Jennifer Wilkinson had the chance to press charges against someone for kidnapping- a friend of mine at the DA told me about the case. She said that it wouldn't matter, that he couldn't be brought to trial any longer. She guessed he was dead. Jenny-"
"Was kidnapped by Slade," Dick finished for her. "She's the only person Catwoman knew of to come out alive. But that was years ago, back before the Titans were through, from the timeline."
"The year- it had to be that time that Slade nearly killed that cop- Mare, that was your partner. That day, why was Slade attacking?" Raven had missed the prelude.
"He was trying to show his apprentice displeasure that she wasn't breaking, by destroying an entire city."
"Why didn't he kill her?"
"He couldn't fully get Robin," Raven said slowly. "He wanted me alive so Trigon could open the portal. Only one person knows why."
The six said it together. "Jenny."
When their waitress came to the table to take drink orders, she found an empty booth. Someone had scribbled a quick note on a napkin- Thanks. This is for you. Beneath the napkin, she found a tip. A very generous tip. She hadn't even brought drinks. Doing what any person with high morals on a shoe-string budget would do, she pocketed the money. She was going through college, it was meant for her- those people were just something special.
The six walked into the station. Vic and Mare were due to start a shift in an hour. Kori was early, but Renee wasn't up front. Dick was in full Nightwing regalia- he kept a spare suit in the car, just in case. Raven looked angry enough to make cops not start anything. Gar was green. People just knew there was some reason a green man was walking around their station with a group of cops and superheroes.
"Jenny." Vic walked up to the desk a little ahead of his companions. She gave a shy smile. For once, he didn't return it. "We need to talk." He had his cop face on, one much improved after a little over a week in training with Mare. "About Slade."
"Well, you can ask Renee. She's in her office with Bullock- they have a lead that they're following. I'll page her-"
"The Morrigan is a pretty famous figure in Celtic mythology. If someone can read Gaelic- there are many stories about her." Raven had moved forward. Vic was still a little bit behind himself. "Fitting, isn't it?"
"You pass information to Charlie. Glancing at it isn't a crime." Mare's face was unreadable. "Anywhere else, killing would be."
"A friend of yours called me a few minutes after you left at 9:20. From what Kori says, that's your signature move." For once, Gar had something to contribute to this investigationthat wasn't comic relief. He looked as shocked as the rest of them.
"What do you want?" Jenny asked. For once, she looked directly at them, ignoring paperwork and computer screens and a ringing phone. Really, she didn't ignore the phone. She just disconnected the caller without glancing for an identity.
"We want to get Slade," Nightwing told her. His appearance in the station had raised less fuss than he had believed possible.
"We want to help you." Vic was still in uniform, badge in pocket already showing the signs of the clear protective coating fading away.
"We want you to stop running from your problems, Mona Lisa." Kori wasn't as imposing as her uniform. That was just a cover, and the lack of a gun holster was apparent. She was far from unarmed. Raising the righteous anger needed for starbolts to get Slade? No problem.
"We want you to be happy." Gar was looking at Raven. Neither Raven nor Jenny noticed.
"We want you to have back-up. Going it alone against a guy like that's just not very smart." Raven held Jenny's glare. "It's true. I need back-up to go against Slade, and I still haven't won." The assassin looked away first.
"And we want you to drop off criminals here at the precinct for booking. Messy, I know, but far more legal." Mare was all business. "Don told me to tell you that the one criminal he wouldn't mind seeing dead is Slade. Old One-Eye is way too creepy to look in the eye."
"How is Don?" Raven asked.
"Wheelchair-bound, at least until physical therapy. He feels his toes- wiggled them today to show off before I went to court. He's just unsteady on his feet. We can't thank you-"
Raven cut her off. "Just doing my job, Mare. You really want to thank me? Give my number to girls who want to prosecute but can't afford a lawyer. Sexual assault isn't handled right in the business, the only crime where the accuser is prosecuted."
"I'll do that," she promised. They shook on it. Raven noticed something about Mare's other hand. So did Gar.
"You weren't wearing that last we met."
"Don couldn't talk last we met- first words out of his mouth, fool man. We'll get married eventually. He says he's walking down the aisle. He said he would have done the whole genuflecting business, but you know, the old legs weren't cooperating."
Mare knew all hell was about to break loose. She, Vic, and Kori were in uniform. Nightwing was beginning to look uncomfortable. Gar was green- did that count? He was beginning to draw stares. Green men weren't required for conversing with the girl in charge of paperwork. Rae had just gotten out of her latest martial arts class, and nearly took out the poor cadet to crash into her with hands at the wrong level.
Officers Vic knew sidled and stepped up, depending on the person in question. "Mare, you wouldn't leave us behind, would you? Y'all can't steal all the fun," Alex (-andra under pain of death) drawled.
"It wouldn't be polite," Kemosabe added with a slow smile.
"Kemosabe, this is not an on the books mission."
He was a foot taller than Mare. He backed down.
"I outrank you, Mare, and your two cop friends too. And if Jenny's going, so are we." Senior Detective Renee Montoya had her mind set on going, and her partner was right behind her.
Harvey Bullock had further reasons. "You don't have anything we haven't seen before. We've met 'Wing. I've seen green man here on television. What's the problem?"
Vic and Kori exchanged looks. "Any extraordinary talents are completely confidential," they chorused, unplanned.
"Got it," Alex, Kemosabe, Renee, and Harv said together. They lived in Gotham. Criminals were more often than not sent to the insane institution than the jail. "But why's Jenny coming?" Renee asked, as ranking officer.
"Because I'm the Morrigan."
"What?" five people asked, loud enough to turn a few heads and make a few employees pop above cubicles like some odd urban prairie dogs. Charlie had been on his way to ask the chief about recruiting Don as a partner for the dispatch when he heard Jenny's quiet announcement.
"We're all unofficially going to get Slade, and Jenny's the assassin we've been chasing for years," Mare explained, unflappable.
"Then I'm coming with you."
"Charlie! You hate guns. You hate fighting. You haven't been under fire since your partner. You-"
"I'm Raven's sparring partner for jujitsu."
Rae nodded. "He's pretty good."
"Says the girl who beats me every time."
"Jujitsu, Rae?" Nightwing asked. "I thought martial arts were my thing."
"You have gadgets. I need to keep something in reserve. Besides, a girl has to defend herself. I won't be a liability. Neither will Charlie."
"Let's just get out of here before anything too secret comes out," Jenny interrupted. "Some things are better left to small company."