Disclaimer: I don't be owning none of this.
Connections
Chapter Three: Discounting Evidence
As he and Shayera appeared in the Batcave in a flash of blue light, Wally couldn't help but be amazed. He was amazed every time he came here. Of course, he hadn't been here that often ever since he had installed Pac Man on the Bat computer. He never understood why Bruce got so ticked off – Robin had told him that Bats hadn't uninstalled it, so he must obviously enjoy it too. He mentally shrugged it off as the butler entered the cave from the stairway.
"Ah, you're here. Master Bruce told me to expect you. I'm afraid he is otherwise occupied on business at the moment, so you'll have to wait."
The scarlet speedster cocked an eyebrow beneath his mask. "Is that Bruce Wayne business or Bats business?"
A slight smile danced across the butler's lips. "Hmm… 'Bats'. I've never heard that before."
"It's what I do," Wally quickly replied, a grin on his face.
"Tea? Coffee?"
Shayera smiled. "Tea, please."
Alfred nodded and looked to Wally. "And for you?"
"Coffee, milk, 26 sugars."
Alfred smiled politely and nodded, not batting an eyelid. As he left, Wally started his exploration of the Batcave. He had always thought that there was a little kid inside Batman somewhere. He had his suspicions when he realised that Bruce put the word 'Bat' before each piece of equipment; Batarang, Batmobile, Batpants (Wally had made that one up, but still)… Only a kid would do that.
And this just proved it.
He was a collector.
He stopped in front of the giant dinosaur that had so grabbed his attention the first time he came here. The grin that spread over his face attracted Shayera over to him, and she looked up at the giant lizard.
"Do you want one?"
"Yes please ma." Wally looked around the room, taking in every little detail. His attention was attracted to the giant coin he had used to squash two Thanagarian soldiers. The smile disappeared from his face briefly, the circumstances of that battle suddenly entering his mind. The smile quickly returned as Shayera stood beside him. No need to make her uncomfortable; she was here to help him, after all.
Though part of him wished she wasn't.
"Why don't we have this?" Wally asked, still staring at the coin.
"What? A cave?"
The scarlet speedster shook his head. "No, I mean a big museum of villain things. We only keep the really dangerous stuff, like pieces of Brainiac and evil people possessing gems."
Shayera smiled. "Maybe you should make your own museum."
"What? Like a Flash Museum or something?" The mocking grin disappeared as he considered the concept. "Maybe that's not such a bad idea…" he said thoughtfully, scratching his chin.
"You do know I was joking, right?"
"W- Yeah… obviously…"
Shayera tried to suppress her laughter, and the Fastest Man Alive scowled. A smile spread across his face as he looked at the coin, then over to the dinosaur.
"Hey… how do you think Bats got these in here? You think he and Robin rolled 'em in?"
Shayera laughed. "They probably got Alfred to help them."
"Actually, I always thought I had a fairly sturdy lifting arm."
The pair turned to see Alfred with a tray of drinks. An amused smile on his face, he handed the tea to Shayera, and the coffee to Wally.
"Uh… thanks, Jeeves."
"You could just call me Alfred, you know."
The scarlet speedster shrugged. "I know. But everyone else calls you Alfred. Where's the fun in that?"
A greying eyebrow shot up. "Touché." He half turned to leave, then paused. "If you need anything else, don't hesitate to ask."
Wally took a sip of his coffee and watched the butler go before he finally realised he needed something. "Hey, where's the, uh… little Bat's room?"
Shayera groaned, and Wally grinned. Alfred's face retained the same stony expression. "Next to where the costumes are kept."
After giving him a quick salute, Wally handed his coffee to Shayera, and sped to the bathroom. Alfred shook his head, smiling slightly as he went.
Shayera frowned as she looked around the cave. She hadn't been in here since…
She shook her head. Thinking like that didn't help anyone. But that still didn't help the fact that she felt ill at ease in this place, regardless of past circumstances. Something about the place felt so… cold. Still. She couldn't put her finger on it. Perhaps it was the fact that she couldn't see the clouds above her head… couldn't fly high. But she doubted that. There was something about Batman that could make her feel unsure and a little anxious. That feeling extended to his home. Shayera had no doubt that this was where Bruce spent the majority of his time; there was probably a bed in the cave somewhere, she was sure.
The huge trapdoor entrance to the cave lowered noisily, and the Batmobile came through shortly after. It slowed to a halt, and the canopy slid forward. A black haired boy dressed in red and black leapt from the car, a smile on his face that reminded Shayera of Wally. He faltered slightly as he saw her, but quickly recovered, the grin reappearing almost instantly.
"And you must be Shayera Hol," he said, coming forward with his hand extended. Bruce, meanwhile, had walked straight over to the computer, with only a small nod to Shayera as a greeting. She took the boy's hand as Wally came racing out of the bathroom.
"Man, that place is huge-! Oh, hey Robin. How's Bart?"
"He's fine. I wish he'd lay off the pranks once in a while, though."
Shayera looked at Wally with an eyebrow raised. "Chip of the old block, eh?"
"Robin, go upstairs and get dressed. If I'm not mistaken, you've got an essay to write." Batman turned in his chair. "Don't you?"
The Boy Wonder sighed. "Fine, fine, I'm going. Nice to see you guys!"
The pair waved him goodbye as he merrily jogged up the stairs, throwing off articles of clothing as he went. Wally grinned.
"Is he supposed to leave his clothes all over the place like that?"
"No," the Dark Knight responded, groaning. He tapped a few buttons on the computer, and a picture of the Mad Hatter appeared on the large screen. "From what I've found out, Tetch hasn't left his cell for quite some time. If he's using his mind control technology, he's finding some new way to do it."
"Couldn't it be natural? Like Grodd?" Shayera asked, handing Wally his coffee in front of Batman's face. He raised an eyebrow beneath his cowl and rested his head on his hand and stroked his chin thoughtfully.
"I'm not about to rule it out."
A noisy sip from Wally's mug attracted the attention of the two. "So what do we do now?"
"We go to Arkham and question him."
"And you waited for us? Bats, I'm touched."
Wally wasn't sure whether Bruce had heard or if he had simply learned to ignore his sense of humour. He hoped not; Bat-baiting was one of his favourite hobbies. The caped crusader headed for the Batmobile, and the canopy slid back upon his approach. He stopped before he got in.
"Are you two coming?"
The Fastest Man Alive's face broke out in a grin. "In that? Sure…"
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"Stupid Bats not letting me in his stupid car because of his stupid paranoia about stupid Pac Man…"
Shayera grinned as she walked alongside her grumbling team-mate. She was glad he was getting his mind off of the Jinx business, at least for the moment. It didn't seem right to have Wally actingthat serious. Wally looked over at her.
"Are you okay here?"
"Why wouldn't I be?"
"I dunno… because of the whole Justice Lords thing? You were brought here when they injured you."
The red headed Thanagarian shook her head. "I don't remember that."
"Oh, okay. Never mind."
"But… thanks, Flash."
He shrugged, an embarrassed smile spreading across his face. Batman stopped them at the double doors.
"Before we go in, I think I should warn you that these people aren't your typical villains. They're psychotic and dangerous, even if they can't get their hands on you. Especially so, in some cases."
"Blah blah… I've handled psychos before, Bats," Flash quickly responded, walking forward. Bruce but a hand on his shoulder.
"Not like these, you haven't."
There was something in his tone of voice that made the scarlet speedster freeze in his tracks. Something that he rarely heard in Batman's voice. In fact, the only other time he could think of hearing it was when someone would threaten Diana. And of course, that one time in the Thanagarian ship when Wally had accidentallyblown up the north wall of Wayne Manor.
The Flash nodded slowly, and Batman let go of his shoulder. Pushing open the doors, Wally was surprised by the silence. At the Keystone City prison, Iron Heights, Wally had always left the place with his ears ringing from the inmates screaming abuse and other colourful euphemisms at him. The most popular one was to question his sexual adequacy, since he was the 'Fastest Man Alive'.
But here, there was nothing. Here he was, only a few seconds in, and he was already unnerved. They passed various booths on their way over to the Hatter's cell, passing by a man who looked like a giant crocodile, a woman cradling a potted plant, and a man with half of his face distorted.
Batman slowed slightly at his cell, then continued on. Wally was tempted to ask the Caped Crusader about the man's importance, but decided to leave it alone. It wasn't like Bats was likely to tell him, anyway. The Dark Knight stopped, and Flash assumed that they had arrived. Instead, they were at the Joker's cell. Except that there was no movement inside. The scarlet speedster looked in cautiously to see the Clown Prince of Crime sat in his straight jacket, staring forward blankly.
"What's up with him?" Wally whispered.
"I'll tell you what's up, buddy boy! Bat fart here turned that little Acey girl on my puddin'!" Wally turned to look at Harley Quinn, who was sat in the opposite cell. "Now he's nothin'. Not even a smile," she continued, and sniffled slightly.
Flash couldn't help but feel a little bit of sympathy for the girl. He shook his head and silently reminded himself that the adorable little girl was an absolute loon, too. Batman moved along to the next cell, and there sat Jervis Tetch, the Mad Hatter. All Wally could think about was how much he looked like a rat.
"Tetch."
The criminal suddenly looked up from his reading upon hearing the Dark Knight's voice. "Ah! Batman! To what do I owe the pleasure?" he stood suddenly, allowing his book to fall to the floor. Wally looked at the title.
Alice in Wonderland. I didn't see that one coming.
"And you brought some friends, I see. The speedy one and the traitor woman."
Wally scowled. "Hey, sh-"
Shayera put a hand on his shoulder and shook her head. "It's okay, Flash. Leave him."
Tetch smiled. "Yes, yes, my boy, listen to your mother."
Batman intervened before Flash could do anything more. "We've found traces of your mind control devices in Metropolis, Tetch. You wouldn't know anything about that, would you?"
Something flashed across the criminals' eyes. "I'm afraid not."
"Is that right?"
Tetch sat on his bed and splayed his hands outwards. "I've been here for the past year or so. Although I'm not too sure about that; they won't give me a calendar in here, you know. I think I missed my birthday."
Bruce ignored his ramblings and continued on. "If we find any evidence linking you to this, we-"
"You'll what, Batman? Lock me up? A little late for that, isn't it? Besides," he said, smirking, "you can't threaten me in here. As long as I'm on this side of the glass, you can't touch me."
Batman smiled, and Tetch's instantly vanished. "Maybe I can't, but he can," he said, nodding over to Flash. To prove his companion's point, Wally vibrated his hand through the glass and then pulled it back again, a stony expression on his face the entire time. The Mad Hatter's eyes almost bulged out of their sockets.
"So how are we going to do this, Tetch? I know for a fact that you offended him quite a bit with that 'traitor' remark."
Tetch remained confident. "You're bluffing, Batman. You wouldn't dare touch me. You or your pet rabbit here."
Batman shrugged nonchalantly. "If you want to take that chance. But there's a reason he's called the fastest man alive. Most of the time we can't stop him before he does something… unfortunate." He leaned closer, as if sharing some great secret with Tetch. "What do you think happened to the Joker?"
His cocky demeanour quickly fading, the Hatter looked from Batman to Flash, and then back again. "But… but..."
"And besides… Even if he doesn't do anything, he could always bring me in with him." His voice lowered to the barest of whispers. "And you know how much I dislike you."
Wally cracked his knuckles. "What's it gonna be, pal?"
The sweat was pouring from his forehead. "Guard! G-"
"I don't think that'll do you much good," Shayera interrupted. "The guard met with an unfortunate accident on the way in."
Flash turned to Batman. "You said to go for the teeth first, right?"
The Dark Knight nodded grimly, and Wally turned back towards Tetch, the same stony look on his face. Inwardly, Wally was grinning inanely.
I've gotta play bad cop more often.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Tetch had sung like a bird before Wally had even gotten fully into the cell, a fact he was partly disappointed and relieved at. He seriously doubted he would have been able to do anything to the guy. Unfortunately, Tetch had been telling the truth; he didn't know anything about his technology being used, but he did tell Batman where he had stored his mind control technology; beneath the building where he used to work.
Before he went loopy, that is.
Shayera knocked down the locked door with her mace, sending it crashing to the floor loudly, a cloud of dust billowing out from underneath it. Wally squinted to see in the dim light, and was suddenly blinded as Batman flipped on a small torch.
"Yow!"
Bruce ignored his protestations and entered the room. Under the inquisitive light of the torch, Wally could see that the room was a wreck; tables overturned, cabinets ripped open, and a giant gaping hole in the ceiling.
"Almost as if something tore through…" Shayera said absentmindedly, and Wally nodded in agreement.
"Someone's not a fan, that's for sure."
Batman turned and looked at him. "Have a look around the area; this could have been recent."
"Gotcha," Flash responded, giving a quick salute before shooting out the door. Shayera and Batman got to searching.
Shayera crouched down to look under a table. "So what do you know about this 'Jinx'?" she asked, without even looking up.
"What makes you think I know anything about her?"
The Thanagarian didn't respond, her silence being enough. If he were anyone else, he would have sighed at the futility of denying it. She could read people about as well as he could. Better, in fact. She had figured out his secret identity, after all.
"She's an old enemy of the Titans'."
"And?"
"And that's it."
"That's not what I mean. How does she know Flash?" she asked impatiently, still being careful to protect identities in case someone was listening in.
"He helped her out of the criminal organisation she worked for."
"The HIVE," Shayera said as she stood, heading over to the toppled cabinet.
Batman nodded and flipped through a few files. "Anything?"
She frowned in frustration. "No. Whoever did this took everything important, and didn't leave anything behind."
Bruce was silent for a moment. "Or maybe not…"
Shayera turned in time to see Batman lifting a toppled chair.
"What is it?"
Batman pointed to the floor, indicating a small puddle of red, with remnants of smashed glass poking out from beneath the crimson liquid.
"Blood? Could it be Tetch?"
Bruce shook his head as he dabbed some of the blood up. "It's still wet; too recent. Tetch hasn't been here for months." He put the sample in a plastic evidence bag and slid it into a waiting slot on his utility belt. "I'll take this sample back with us and run some scans."
Shayera nodded and looked to the hole in the roof. "Was there something between Flash and Jinx? Something personal?"
"She left the HIVE because of him."
"Is that a yes?"
"It's an observation," Batman corrected, and then paused. As he spoke, his voice became quieter, gentler. "People don't leave criminal organisations easily. Especially where the HIVE is concerned. For her to leave, she must have had a very good reason waiting for her on the other side."
Shayera looked at the Dark Knight, her mind slowly taking in his words. Wally suddenly zipped into the room behind her.
"Couldn't find anyone, Bats. Just an old lady, and I don't think she did this."
Bruce nodded. "All right. Let's head back."
He strode out the room quickly, and Wally had to move fast to get out of his way. He looked over at Shayera, who was still looking at the place where Batman was stood.
"Shayera? You okay?"
She shook her head and smiled. "Sorry. Yeah, let's go."
"I heard you guys talking. Talk about anything interesting?"
Shayera waved a dismissive hand. "Oh, just stalker Hawkman stuff. The usual."
The Fastest Man Alive cocked an eyebrow beneath his mask and smiled unsurely. "Uh… okay."
He sped away, and Shayera quickly flew after him, following the Batmobile back to the cave. She watched her speedster friend from a distance, wondering what else he kept from her and the rest of the League behind that grin.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"I really need a Flash computer."
Batman raised an eyebrow. "A what?"
"A Flash computer. And a Flash cave would be cool, too. I already have a Flash van, though, so I guess I could just call that the Flashmobile."
"A Flash van?" Shayera asked incredulously.
Wally nodded. "Didn't GL tell you?"
"I thought he was joking."
Batman tapped a few buttons on the computer. "It sounds like one." He turned to look at Wally. "Why do you need a van?" He paused. "Don't answer that."
"Kinda creepy that GL said the same thing, isn't it?" Flash replied, grinning. The computer made a noise indicating it was done with its scan. Batman punched a few keys, bringing up the image of a particularly surly looking man wearing a sailor hat.
"Popeye wants to control people's minds?" he said, his voice an aghast whisper.
Shayera looked over at him and shook her head, an amused smile on her face. Batman just scowled.
"His name is Bibbo Bibbowski."
A red eyebrow shot up, and the smile disappeared from Shayera's face. "Isn't that one of Superman's friends?"
The Dark Knight nodded. "One of his informants."
The scarlet speedster frowned, his crimson mask wrinkling. "But why would he be in Gotham?"
"And why would he be stealing advanced mind control technology?" Bruce added, stroking his chin in thought.
"Well, only one way to find out," Shayera cut in, putting her hand to her ear. "Mr Terrific, we're ready for pickup." Shayera nodded at Batman. "Thanks for the help."
The caped crusader nodded. Wally made a mock pistol with his hand. "Thanks, Bats," he said, winking as they dematerialised in a flash of blue light. Batman shook his head and got back to finding out what the Riddler's latest clue meant.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
As the pair rematerialised on the teleporter platform, they were almost immediately knocked off by Green Lantern and Supergirl.
"Whoa! What's going on?" Flash asked, dashing out of the way. John stopped on the platform.
"There's been a break in at a Wayne Tech facility in Coast City."
"Your neck of the woods, isn't it?" Shayera asked.
The Green Lantern nodded grimly. "I'll see you later."
And with that, the two disappeared in two towers of blue light. Flash looked up at the control station where Mr Terrific was sat.
"Mr Terrific! Two for Metropolis, hold the lettuce, extra cheese!"
The super intelligent hero frowned. "What?"
Wally was about to reiterate when Shayera put a hand on his shoulder. "Two to Metropolis."
"Why didn't you just say so?"
The Fastest Man Alive gained a scowl and quickly zoomed on to the teleporter pad. Shayera hovered over and landed gracefully next to him. Wally crossed his arms in a huff.
"It was a good joke."
Shayera laughed as they were engulfed by blue light.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
(A/N: Again, not much to say, except review!)