(Yawns) Man it's late…my muse hit me earlier and I've been typing for like three hours straight. (apologizes to her hubby) Anyway I wanted to send a thank you out to Mid-Nite, Eternal paladin, Divina, Phoenix, Dark Guardian, and everyone else who has reviewed my story. I really, really, appreciate your input and I'm glad to hear you've all been enjoying the story thus far. I have to admit that it's been a long time since I've had fun writing a story, and I've been looking forward to each free bit of time I get to write more.

Enjoy!

Clocktower

New Gotham

1:00 am

The sounds of sirens approaching finally caused the silent trio to stir. "We should get you to the hospital Barbara," Reese said as he finally took a good look at her badly beaten body. For the first time he realized most of her tears were probably due to the physical pain she was in. He had never seen her this vulnerable before and it broke his heart. He wasn't the only one.

Batman crouched next to them. "I can take her home," he said in an unusually quiet voice. "There will be less questions."

"She's got some pretty severe injuries," Reese said skeptically.

"I'll be okay with him Reese," Barbara whispered.

The dark skinned detective hesitated, giving the masked vigilante a hard look before he finally relinquished Barbara's battered body. Batman stood, gently cradling Barbara's body against his, his lips thinning as she gasped in pain. Reese staggered to his feet and the Dark Knight glanced him over.

"You should be seen by a doctor as well."

"I'll take care of things here first and then I'll head over to No Man's. That's where Doc Thompkins was gonna be before she headed back to the Manor. I need to find out what happened to everyone before I come back," Reese said wearily.

Batman merely nodded before disappearing with Barbara. Reese looked back at Quinn's dead body, sighed heavily and slumped down onto the remains of the sofa as he waited for his fellow brothers in blue to make it up the lengthy stairwell.

No Man's

New Gotham

1:00 am

Given her speed and desperation, Huntress had been the first back to the club with Canary cradled in her arms. She practically broke the door down on the elevator as she rushed to unload her friend on the nearest cot that Gibson and Leslie had set up.

Gibson swallowed audibly as he took in both girls appearance, and Leslie immediately went into action. Bending over the unconscious young woman, she began taking readings while she tried to find out just what was in store for her.

"How bad was it?" she asked the shaken looking brunette.

"We almost lost….we would have if it weren't for Dinah. Is…is she gonna be okay?"

"I don't know. Her vitals are all over the place right now. What happened to her?"

"I don't know. I was knocked out, but Rose said something about her going on overload. She single-handedly took out every person within several hundred yards of her," Helena whispered in disbelief.

Leslie frowned. "That would take a lot of power…perhaps more than she could handle. I've only seen something like this happen one other time," Leslie said grimly.

"What happened?"

"The young man had the ability to wield and control fire. But he overdid it one night trying to save a fire crew trapped in a high rise that was burning out of control. He wound up in a coma for months and when he woke, he couldn't even light a match. In the end, he took his own life," she answered sadly. Shaking her head Leslie focused back on her current patient. "Right now we just need to focus on getting her stabilized so that we can move her back to the Manor. How many others will be heading back here?"

"I-I don't know. I found Dinah, and I came right here."

"Casualties?" Gibson asked quietly.

Helena closed her eyes. "Too many," she answered hoarsely.

"But you stopped them?" he asked gently.

"Yes. Reese and Elisa blew up their base, and Elisa and Dracon are on a boat that was supposed to deliver a second secret shipment directly to Canmore."

Gibson rested a hand on her shoulder, trying to give her some comfort. "Then any losses on our part were not made in vain. Oracle made it very clear the risks, and those who died tonight did so willingly and bravely."

"They shouldn't have had to die at all," Helena growled out.

Leslie reached out to grip her hand firmly. "We all die at some time or another kitten. It's not often that we are given the chance to choose how we die. Gibson is right, they died a noble death, and none of us can say that we wouldn't want anything less. Now why don't you let Gibson help dress those wounds of yours while I finish working on Dinah here. I'm sure that when the others start arriving I could use the extra pair of hands."

Helena nodded, her mind still numb from the hell she had just been through to protest Leslie's orders. Gibson began to gently work on her while she amazingly sat completely still under his treatment. Two minutes later however, her eyes widened and Gibson nearly jumped out of his seat when she swore loudly.

"I-I'm sorry-," he stammered out nervously, but she wasn't even looking at him.

"Barbara! I have to get back to the Clocktower!" she said standing abruptly.

"Whoa wait a minute. You're not going anywhere," Leslie said firmly, standing swiftly and moving to block her path towards the elevator.

"Damnit Leslie I have to get back to the Clocktower. Barbara was under attack!"

"Helena, you're hardly in any condition to go out and fight yourself. Look at you, you're barely able to stand on your own two feet right now!"

It took Helena a moment to process the fact that she was swaying heavily.

"Helena you obviously haven't seen your reflection yet but you look like hell. Frankly, I'm amazed you were able to make it back here with her so quickly. You've got a knot on your forehead the size of a softball and you've probably lost a decent amount of blood. Now sit down before you pass out and make things worse," the doctor ordered.

"But-," Helena protested.

"No buts! Barbara would have my hide if she knew I let you go out like you are by yourself. If one or more of the others are still in decent shape when they come back, then- and ONLY THEN- I will let you go check up on her. Understood?"

Helena sat heavily on a nearby chair and dropped her head into her hands. "Leslie I can't loose her," she pleaded.

The older woman softened her voice as she brushed some of the unkempt dark hair back so she could take a closer look at Helena's injury. "I know kitten," she sighed. "But there's nothing you can possibly do for her at this point. I'm sure someone went back to check on her as soon as the fight was over."

"Maybe…" Helena muttered dejectedly.

The elevator rumbled to life and Leslie glanced towards the doors. "Here come the troops now. You just rest here while Gibson and I see to them and then we'll see about getting you a ride back to the Clocktower."

Helena sat back in the chair and brooded for the next ten minutes until Rose finally showed up with the last of the injured survivors. She handed off the young meta to Leslie's capable hands before she approached the surly brunette.

"That's a nasty lump you have there," Rose commented as she reached up to rest her cool fingers on Helena's forehead.

Despite her mood, Helena couldn't help but sigh in some relief as the throbbing abated slightly. "Rose I need to get to the Clocktower and Leslie won't let me outta here by myself."

"I can take you over, but I wouldn't worry about Barbara too much. Batman left shortly after her last transmission and headed off in that direction. Reese left as soon as the fighting was over too. I'm sure that the two of them have taken care of things by now."

"Reese?"

Rose smiled knowingly. "He looked pretty roughed up, but he recovered pretty quickly from…whatever it was that Dinah did."

"I have to go Rose."

"Ok. Let me go talk to Leslie, and I'll drive you over there."

Clock Tower

New Gotham

1:20 am

"Detective Reese? What are you doing here sir?" the SWAT Lieutenant asked as he cautiously approached the weary detective.

"My girlfriend lived here with her friends. I got here as soon as I found out Quinn was trying to blow the place up."

"Quinn? But she's still in Arkham and they haven't reported any breakouts."

"Then tell me who I just shot and killed over there?"

The Lieutenant moved across the room and crouched next to the corpse on the floor and frowned deeply as he examined her face. "I don't know how she did it, but you're right. Was anyone home here?"

"Yeah. Helena's friend Barbara was home. Quinn did a number on her, but a friend just took her to the hospital. Thankfully we got here before Quinn killed her. Listen Mac, it's been a long night. I'm gonna go call my partner and ask him to take over the investigation here. Can you secure the scene for me and keep everyone out until he shows up?"

"No problem Reese, you look like you could use a Band-Aid or two," Mac snorted wryly. "Go ahead and get outta here and I'll take care of things for you."

"Thanks Mac."

Reese made his way down the stairs and limped slowly towards his car, ignoring the crowd of bystanders that had gathered to gawk at the ruined Clocktower. Just as he was about to get into his car, a truck flew down the street and came to a screeching halt next to his vehicle. The passenger door flew open and Helena ungracefully stumbled out, her legs nearly giving out underneath her as she stared upwards in horror.

Reese reached over to catch her and drew her into his arms. "Barbara?" she whispered, panic tightening her throat.

"Shhhh," he soothed hugging her body to his. "She'll be okay," he told her, breathing his own sigh of relief at seeing her alive.

"Where is she? What happened?"

"Let's go back to No Man's so we can get Leslie and check on the others and I'll tell you on the drive over there. Ice you want to follow us back or head home?"

"I think I'll follow you back. Leslie had her hands full when I left, but Helena was insisting on making sure Barbara was okay."

"We'll see you back there then."

She nodded, got back into her truck and headed back towards No Man's as Reese helped Helena into his car. Once inside, he leaned over and ran a hand through her hair as he simply looked at her for a minute. Then, he leaned in, and gently brushed his lips across hers. Her breath caught for a moment and then she leaned further into the kiss before both sat back into their seats.

"Thank god this is all over with and we both made it out alive," Reese breathed as he brushed the side of her face gently one last time before he turned to start up the car and follow Rose.

Wayne Manor

New Gotham

1:25am

Batman carefully ran up the front steps to his home, thankful to see Alfred as vigilant as always as the front doors swung open as he reached them. The aging butler merely looked at the Dark Knight for a second, muttered a 'good to see you finally sir,' and then stepped off to the side so Batman could carry his burden inside towards the waiting infirmary.

Barbara had remained unconscious for most of the trip over, and continued to remain so as Batman laid her gently on the bed and stepped back to let Alfred work on her. Stripping off his own gloves, Batman reached up to remove his cowl, revealing a very aged looking Bruce Wayne.

He did not miss Alfred's small look of surprise, but said nothing as he pulled a pair of surgical gloves on. "We should reset that arm before she wakes up," he noted.

"I was monitoring Miss Barbara's transmissions from the Cave. May I ask what has become of everyone?" Alfred inquired as he assisted Bruce in setting and stabilizing the painful injury.

"I don't know," was the curt reply. "I left as soon as I heard that Harley was attacking the Clock Tower."

"I have been monitoring the police transmissions, and I know that the fight is over. But there seems to be much confusion as to how many casualties there were. I have not heard from neither Miss Helena, Miss Dinah, Detective Maza or Detective Reese."

"Detective Maza was catching a boat bound for Manhattan and I ran into Detective Reese at the Clock Tower. I- I don't know what's become of Helena or Dinah and neither of them showed up at the Clock Tower with that detective."

Alfred noticed his employers tone hardened when he spoke of the Gotham Detective and raised an eyebrow while he continued to gently clean and dress Barbara's wounds. "You do not approve of Detective Reese?"

"He killed Quinn," Bruce answered flatly.

"And that bothers you?"

"We don't kill Alfred."

Alfred straightened suddenly and fixed his missing employer with a look that nearly bordered on a glare. It was the first time Bruce had received such a look from the older man and the shock of that fact caused him to halt for a moment. "Begging your pardon sir, but do you really have the right to consider yourself a part of the 'we' you just spoke of? And the last time I checked, Detective Reese was a police officer, not a vigilante. You never condemned Commissioner Gordon when he was forced to shoot and kill a criminal, what makes Detective Reese any different?"

Bruce blinked, surprised at the tone Alfred used with him, and realized a great deal of things had changed while he had been away. Clearing his throat he tried to take control of the situation, but realized he had no real reason to condemn or judge Reese for what he had done. Looking back at Barbara, he sighed tiredly and stood. "I'll be in the Cave," he said muttered before retreating to the quiet safety of his dark sanctuary.

Train Yards

Manhattan

1:30pm

A camo-wearing soldier jogged up to the Hummer that sat idling quietly and knocked on the darkly tinted window on the passenger side. It rolled down, and he nodded in respect to the man sitting calmly in the warm vehicle.

"Sir, I'm sorry to bother you, but there are some reports coming in that something went down in New Gotham."

The man looked at the messenger who shifted nervously. "What kind of reports?" the man asked still calm.

"We can't get in touch with anyone up there, and the police reports are sketchy right now. B-but they're saying that they busted everyone up at the docks…Including Mr. Quinn sir."

There was a moment of calm silence. "And the shipment?"

The man smiled a bit as if in relief. "Nothing has been mentioned about that. Our men at the last checkpoint confirm the train is on its way, and our contacts within NYPD have said there's nothing stirring on their end of things. It looks like the New Gotham cops came in after the shipment left."

"Mr. Quinn will never give them anything, and I would have heard from our contacts in the New Gotham PD if the shipment was in danger. How about Canmore's shipment?"

"Something's come up on his end of things and he rearranged the docking point a little while ago. But the captain of the vessel responded and said he would make the delivery right on schedule."

"Very well. Tell the men to carry on with the preparations, but I want a half dozen more posted as lookouts. As soon as those guns get here, I want two crates cracked open and every guard armed with an HQ in case we have trouble on our end."

"Understood sir."

"Carry on."

"Yes sir."

No Man's Land

New Gotham

1:35 am

Reese stood behind Helena as she crouched next to Dinah's side, his hand resting gently on her shoulder. "Did you see what happened to her?" Helena asked in a hoarse voice.

"Yeah," he said distantly, vividly remembering what had happened until he had been knocked out. "It…it was amazing and frightening all at once Hel."

Helena looked up at him, a questioning look in his eyes. "It's hard to describe…to put into words," he explained with a sigh. "It was like she just went nuts or something when she saw you go down. She was one big friggin' target for every goon in that hellhole as soon as she got up on that platform, but it was like she wanted that." He paused for a moment, reflecting on what he had witnessed, and snorted lightly before looking back down at Helena.

"She looked kinda like you did for a minute…you know when you get caught up in the fight. That one where you're just begging for some stupid idiot to attack you so you can kick his ass. The rest of us tried to lay down cover fire for her, everyone merc in there seemed to forget about us for a minute once they saw her. She just got this wild look in her eyes… I swear they began to glow Hel. They were firing at her, rushing her from all directions, but she just took them out with a wave of her hand. The more they came, the more forceful she got, and things just seemed to escalate out of control.

"Next thing I know she's on the ground holding her head, and I thought she had been shot finally. Gordon and I were about to make a rush to get her out of there, when she looked up and this time I knew her eyes were glowing. It looked like blue fire, and the air seemed to crackle with electricity. I realized something bad was about to happen, and the last thing I saw as I tried to dive back behind the wall, was this….wave of something coming off her," he recounted quietly. He left out the part about Dinah's scream. God that sound would haunt him for the rest of his life, but he didn't want to upset Helena any further.

Leslie came back over to check on Dinah, a frown creasing her brow as she finished her brief exam. Helena looked up at her expectantly. The older woman sighed and shook her head. "I just don't know Helena. Rose told me what happened, and I'm not sure if there is anything I can do for Dinah at this point. I'm nearly finished here, and then we can get her back home where I'll have access to more medical equipment. How's Barbara?"

"She was roughed up pretty good, but Alfred and Batman are tending to her right now," Reese answered.

Leslie straightened, her breath sucking in sharply. "I-I'm sorry but did you say Batman?"

Helena had stiffened at the mention of her errant father, and Leslie was staring hard at both her and Reese. "Yeah, nice of him to drop in suddenly huh?" Helena growled. Leslie's eyebrows furrowed and Helena shut her eyes, knowing they had transformed suddenly. Trying desperately to corral her temper she let out a frustrated sigh.

"Yeah, he headed back to the Clocktower after Barbara warned us that she was about to lose communications. He took Barbara back to the Manor."

"Oh."

There was an uncomfortable silence, and then Reese looked around at the slowly emptying room. Down at the far end, several cots were occupied by sheet covered individuals. Only three others remained that seemed seriously injured enough that they hadn't gone home for the night.

"How bad was it?"

"A couple of none critical in-n-out gunshot wounds that I stitched up. One broken arm, a concussion, and handful of bruises and cuts, and those three over there. Jack ended up with a knife buried in his chest, and he's lost a lot of blood. Thankfully nothing major was hit, though the blade did knick the bone and I had to fish out the piece before it worked its way into his bloodstream. He'll be out for a couple of days, but his meta- healing is almost as fast as Helena's. Daniel took a bullet in the leg and it shattered his femur. He's going to need surgery for it to heal properly, and I've already called a few friends of mine who will operate without asking any questions. The transport should be here in about half an hour."

"And Lina?" Helena asked looking over at the skinny woman that had braved the frontlines.

"The next twenty four hours will tell if she makes it or not," Leslie sighed. "It appears she was shot at least twice, although I'm guessing she had just enough power left to phase out briefly so her body would expel the bullets. She wasn't breathing when they brought her in, and I'm not sure how long she was down before we revived her."

"What will be done with them?" Helena whispered as she looked away from the sheet covered bodies in the back.

"I'll see to it that they're bodies are taken care of tomorrow and inform the families. Now let's have a look at you Detective, while I wait for the transport to show up. Then we can head back to the Manor. Gibson and Rose volunteered to stay here until an assistant of mine can show up to keep an eye on things while I patch the rest of you up and get Dinah settled in."

The Tunnels

Manhattan

1:45 am

The tiger patterned mutate raised his hand, and the silent group behind him came to a halt. Claw turned to look at the large human that stood just behind him and pointed to the man's watch.

Glasses looked down at his watch. "1:45"

It was the first words that had been spoken the entire trip, and a couple of the others jumped slightly. Claw nodded and then pointed to the ladder that led to a manhole about twenty feet up. He made several other gestures that they were at their designated position near the outer warehouses of the train yards.

Then the mutate looked more closely at the dark skinned man and gestured to the human's heavily sweating and almost gray features. A question was clearly apparent in Claw's eyes, even in the dim light provided by Glasses flashlight.

Glasses looked away from the mutate, grumbling an 'I'm fine' as he ordered his men to find a dry place to sit and keep warm while they waited for the train.

Claw merely shrugged, and settled down for the wait, all the while keeping a casual eye on the quiet human that he was in charge of guiding.

Ground Floor

Aerie Building

Manhattan

2:00 am

A soft ding roused the man from his slumber. Rubbing his eyes with the palms of his hands, he lifted his head from the desk he was seated at and tried to situate himself. The last thing he had remembered was Mr. Xanatos himself and that frosty assistant of his cornering him that afternoon as he finished checking up on the commands he had programmed into the security system. There was a decidedly cold look in Xanatos' eyes, ones that had sent a chill down his spine before he slipped into unconsciousness.

Bolting upright, the man realized Xanatos must have found out. He had to warn his boss! Standing up on unsteady legs he turned around to find himself in the main lobby of the Aerie Building. Now that was weird.

The sounds of boots scuffing on marble made him turn around to come face to face with an army of mask-clad, fatigue wearing, gun-toting mercenaries. No! The man opened his mouth to warn them, but his words were cut off by a curt command from one of the many figures. There were two crisp shots, and the man looked down stupidly down at his chest. As crimson began to stain the front of his clothing, his mind idly wondered why he was wearing a security guard's uniform. Then blackness consumed him, and he collapsed to the ground, his warning dying on his cooling lips.

Upstairs in Castle Wyvern…..

David Xanatos sat in his plush chair, with his wife at his side, and allowed himself an evil smirk. It had been awhile since he had allowed such an expression cross his features, and he wouldn't dare allow it in the presence of the Clan. But here…now…. knowing what was to come this night…he allowed himself that one small freedom.

"I think we should keep this on file in case anyone else decides they want to try and attack us," Fox commented casually, a satisfied look turning her own lips upwards.

"Tony Dracon was very interested to find out just how I was going to deal with our mole….I'm sure there are going to be a few others who would be interested in seeing what happened here tonight as well."

"Can you believe that they are all cramming into those elevators?"

"Did you know that as part of the newer security upgrades I did a couple of months ago, I had this little button right here installed?"

Fox's eyes danced in mischief. "And just what does that do?"

"Cut the elevator cables….from any point at anytime that I choose."

"Now David, you know how much Puck has been looking forward to this. It's been ages since he's been able to really go all out with Alex."

"I know. It was just wishful thinking….hoping for a chance to put a new measure to the test."

"Don't worry sweetheart. You had all those new laser cannons installed up in the battlements, and it looks like you'll be able to test them out in a couple of minutes," she said as she tapped a screen on her security console.

"More company?" he asked, slightly surprised.

"We have four helicopters inbound from the east. Should I let them get close? Or keep them at bay?"

"We don't want to distract the police by having them swarm our building when they'll be needed elsewhere. Let them land if they want, it'll give us a chance to really test our security measures."

"The Clan won't be too happy with our change in plans," Fox teased.

Xanatos smirked. "Are they ever?"

Aerie Building Floor 100

"Are you ready to go all out my boy?" the elfin being asked with a mischievous glint in his eyes as he rubbed his hands together.

"You bet Uncle Puck!" the boy exclaimed excitedly as he spun himself around in midair in imitation of his mentor.

"Now remember, guns are very bad and we are both allergic to the bullets so they have to go first thing okay?"

"An' I can make them go away any way I want?"

"Yeap! Now they're on their way up right now. I'll open one elevator at a time, so that you don't get overwhelmed and keep your shields up at all times. And if you start to get tired-,"

"I'm to tell you so that you can finish stopping the bad guys that want to take over our home. I know, I know already!" he whined as toddlers were prone to do when they were told something too many times.

Puck just chuckled as he nudged the boy forward. "Now do your Uncle Puck proud!"

"Hey, this thing's stopping," someone commented.

"We're not on the right floor," another added.

"Damn techie probably didn't get the program right. We're only a couple of floors beneath the castle, we can hike it from here," their team leader grumbled as he hit the button for the doors to open. Nothing happened however, and he frowned punching the button again.

"What's goin' on?" someone asked.

"Friggin' door won't open."

"You think they're onto us?"

The team leader frowned and then pulled his gun from its holster. "Everyone shut-up for a minute so I can listen."

Just then the doors opened, and the entire group froze for two seconds before soldiers started scrambling out of their confining surroundings, weapons drawn. The team leader glanced around the lobby, to see that all the other elevators were stopped on the same floor and one other was already abandoned. What the hell was going on?

Just then a small herd of animals rounded the corner, and a few of the startled soldiers began to open fire. "Cease fire! Cease firing!" their team leader shouted.

That's when a young child appeared in their midst out of thin air. "What the hell?!" someone cried out.

The child scowled. "You shouldn't swears and you shouldn't play with guns," he declared. Then, just like that, their guns disappeared with the child, leaving the small group confused and very alarmed.

"Sir?" someone asked in a nervous voice.

"D-Does anyone have their backups?"

There were negative responses all around. "I don't know what just happened, but they are obviously onto us. Let's get the hell out of here while we still can."

They began to retreat back to the elevator, but the doors closed before anyone could board them. "Now, now you've gone to all the trouble storm the castle. Why turn back now when there's so much more fun and mayhem to be had?" an overly cheery voice asked.

They spun around to see what appeared to be an elf, floating in midair at the far end of the hall. "What the hell is that?!"

The elf grinned. It wasn't a pleasant smile. The wall behind him disappeared, revealing a chaotic scene on the other side. Several other groups of men were running around on what appeared to be a completely cleaned out floor, chasing and being chased by a variety of creatures and one small child. "Do come in," the elf invited.

In the blink of an eye, the soldiers found themselves in the middle of the chaos, with no way out.

Pier 21

Manhattan

2:00am

Jason Canmore lowered his night-vision equipped binoculars and sighed. "Are ye sure this was where he was to meet the shipment?"

His sister glared at him, as she shifted uncomfortably rubbed her hands together in an attempt to warm them in the frigid air. "I think it's obvious that something is going on here Jason," she snapped at him as she pointed towards the heavily armed men patrolling the area.

"Aye, but I see no sign of Jon. Ye know how he is Robyn," he said arching an eyebrow at his annoyed sister. "He oversees everything personally, and he should be here."

"Maybe ye should put some glasses on then and look a little harder then. He was going to be here," Robyn ground out angrily.

Jason sighed, and dropped the subject, knowing it wouldn't do any good to aggravate his sister any further. Raising the binoculars once more, he went back to silently searching the area for any sign of his youngest sibling.