Disclaimer: I do not own any DC Characters including Batman, Superman or anyone else. They all belong to their respected authors. As for Haley Brown, He's my original Character.

Hoody Boy: Elseworld Stories
The Adventures of Haley Brown
Part Four: Tears and Clay

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Gotham, Half a Mile from the Docks
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Haley and James, armed to the teeth and filled with enough anger to cause a public out cry stepped onto the docks. Haley checked his watch, the two hands made a right angle, 9:00 PM on the dot. Haley switched the Vesper to his left and thumbed back the hammer. The clacks of safeties being turned off and guns being armed made them stop.

"Haley Brown and James Sims." The raspy voice answered.

Haley looked around, his gun always pointed in front of him, "Where's Amy?"

"She's just fine." The voice replied, it coughed.

Haley turned to the cough, the docks were dark and the lights were busted and the ones still on were shining a old and yellow beam not even 4 feet in diameter.

"I can't see anything." Haley said quietly, "Same, we're blind and they got the advantage."

"Yeah, night vision and such. What do you think? Flashbang?" Haley whispered back.

"Might work, you throw it, we jump into the water, it goes off." James answered.

"If we jump into the water we'd be sitting ducks." Haley replied, "We're surrounded, what we need is a distraction."

"I could belch." James remarked.

"Brown, I know you two're talking about trying to escape, it is futile. I give a simple a choice, either, you give me your Hoody, or I kill the girl."

Haley rolled his eyes, "Oh that's original! Tell me bone head, did you think that I'd hand over my Hoody when I could probably kill you and your men?"

"I have the Advantage Brown." He replied angrily, "You and James have nothing to stop me."

"You keep talking and you might just die." Haley replied, "You're sounding worse then a Buick."

Alice knew fine and well that Amy was in trouble. James had a knack for finding people, well at least the ones not hidden from him anyway. Hell, he found Haley in Bruce's Manor. He found her in her dreary ass apartment on the north side of town by a busted old gas station. She didn't help James, not that James expected her too, but he didn't want to come crawling back to Haley after leaving. Well, from what Alice could guess, Haley probably had a good idea of where Amy was. She sat down on the couch and laid her head back. She looked down the barrel of a gun.

"Alice O' Conner..."

"Hello Deadshot." Alice replied.

He walked around to the couch and sat down next to her, "I hear there's a deal going down on the docks, sounds nice and big, you want to go down there and scope it out?" He asked.

"Actually I just want to sit here and chill tonight."

Deadshot nodded and took off his mask, "You know you crack me up."

"Whys that?" Alice replied, "Because you are black and white. Sometimes you just can't help but go out and beat people up, and other nights, like this, you're as calm and collected as John Travolta in Pulp Fiction."

"EH, just not in the mood tonight." She replied.

"Right, its cause Haley Brown came to town isn't it?" Deadshot asked.

Alice looked over and contemplated throttling him, "What do you mean?"

"I mean, Haley was the king of Gotham when it came to making Examples, you know what I'm talking about, you and him were an item for roughly 9 months."

"That's the key word though isn't it...? Floyd, were a couple, not is still a couple, were. Which means that we're not any more, ergo it means that just cause he comes to town doesn't mean I freak out. I honestly don't give."

"Alright," Deadshot answered raising his hands, "He's walking into a trap though. The Penguin nabbed that Strauss Girl and is using her as bait. I have to give them credit, they must want Haley dead. Alice?"

Alice went to her room, pulled out her patent leather jack, put on a pair of glasses and took off her skirt and put on a pair of pants. She strapped the gun to her left leg and pulled her hair back into a Ponytail. She opened the window and went down the fire escape.

Damn you Brown, she thought angrily. She cursed under her breath when she thought about him. She still loved him, and yet she loathed and wished to beat him to death also. He was so damn complicated. Not to mention wanting to be normal when he is worse then she is. Everything made her angry when it came to him but she still loved him.

"Shit."

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Gotham City Docks
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"Alright, you got us cornered, what do you want."

"My Employer wants you to die Brown." He replied.

"And I guess your payment is my Hoody?"

"Correct." He replied.

"Well, I have to say, if they hired some half wit like you and you got the drop on me, I must be getting rusty. A year ago I'd've probably been taking you down and your men would be either dead or close to it." Haley replied.

"Brown, just to let you know before we kill, it's nothing personal." He replied.

"Didn't think so." Haley replied.

They all pulled the triggers in the course of one second, the bullets had traveled across the dock and were a foot from Haley by the next quarter of a second and Haley was in mid air as they raced toward him. The Bullets went under neath in a steady stream, Haley kicked off one in mid air and hit the water. James took the bullets like a grain of salt hitting a wall. He turned around, cocked his gun and fired, emptying both clips on the flash points. Haley sprung up out of the water and fired his Vesper blowing a guy backwards onto the dock. He felt the gun by his head. The snap made him look back, the body fell into the water. Haley couldn't see the dim figure who quickly dashed out of sight.

Haley pulled himself out of the water and shook his head. The bullet whizzed by his face, it caught a part of his cheek, he whipped around and fired from his knee. Haley sloshed down the dock, he saw James getting perforated and fired simultaneously. He lunged behind the boxes as the automatic gunfire tore up the wood. Haley picked up the Automatic rifle from the dead guy and checked it to see if it was loaded. He reached into his pocket and pulled out his goggles which were also wet. He pulled them over his head, switched to thermal vision and smiled. He fired through the boxes and shot the guy in the legs. He cried out in pain, two more sprays of gun fire blew parts of the boxes away. Haley went flat, the bullets snapping above his head.

"Oh to hell with this..." Haley muttered.

He reached into his pocket and removed a flash bang grenade, "JAMES!" He shouted, "FB!"

James turned around and jumped, Haley threw it into the nest. The bright phosphorus flash and the crack of a concussion went off. The guys behind were dazed and disorient. They dropped their guns and held their heads which were aching. Haley stood up from behind the boxes and started walking towards them. His head hurt and he wanted to go lay down but the adrenaline in his system wasn't about to let him fall over. He stepped over the gnarled and punctured pieces of the docks towards the group of guys. James converged on the right of Haley. They looked onto the crowd. Sirens in the distance made them look up, it was time to leave.

Behind the boxes, the avid on looker, Alice, relaxed. Haley put her back to the boxes and mopped her brow.

"He never was subtle."

"No he wasn't" Alice replied.

Amy smiled and brushed her hair back with her hand, "Thanks Ali, for saving me."

"Brown was too caught up, for all he knew, you weren't even there." Alice remarked, "Anyway, I'm just helping an old friend. Tell the Police that you were kidnapped but make no mention of me at all."

Amy nodded and sat down on the box. Alice slunk off to the shadows and started on her way back to the apartment. It was 9:30, and Gotham after dark wasn't the nicest place to be. She pulled the scrunchie out of her hair and swept it back behind her. She felt that rush to say something to Haley, to say that he did awesome, to hug him and kiss him, but the cursed memories of that final night crept up next to those fresh ones of him taking on everything. She missed him she finally decided. She wasn't totally sure why, maybe she was just a dumb blonde, but then again, it was hard to forget the guy who'd swept her off her feet and saved her from death.

Haley and James walked into the house, Haley took off his Hoody and went right to the sink and tipped the pocket. Water poured out like a stream. Fish, an old boot and countless amounts of ammo spilled into the drain. James looked at his tore up white shirt and rolled his eyes. He sat down on the couch and put his head back. Two hands greeted him and rubbed his forehead. He drew his gun in the blink of an eye and pointed at her head.

"I take it, it was a long day?" Amy replied.

James turned around, smiled and hugged his wife, Amy groaned, "I missed you." James said.

Haley was leaning on the doorway, his arms crossed. The two of them were a pair of idiots in love. Amy rolled onto the couch with James. The two simply embraced and fell asleep. Haley went upstairs to the bathroom and opened the door. Barbara removed her cowl and looked over in shock. Haley's eyes widened.

"Look what the cat dragged in..." Deadshot replied with a laugh.

Alice walked into the Apartment rubbing her temple, "Not now Lawton."

"Alright, I get it. By the way, Haley made the news again." Deadshot answered, "I'm guessing you were there?"

"Oh yeah, I was there alright." Alice replied sarcastically.

"Knowing you Alice, you were probably off beating up some thug for no reason." Deadshot answered, "I dunno why you cling to that whole justice deal, or even why I put up with it, but hey, I'm not asking questions. You're going half on the apartment and putting your name down, the JLA doesn't know about me being here is fine by me."

Alice shut the door after Lawton was done with his monologue. She laid down on her bed and looked over at her ficus tree. It looked over at her as best a plant could. Alice sighed loudly and slid under the covers.

"Damn you Brown." She thought again.

She rolled over and fell asleep. She dreamed of Brown, of kissing him, of them jumping off builds hugging each others as they did a lover leap and swinging from the buildings. Nothing beat it, and when she awoke before the sun rose, she couldn't go back to bed. Tears rolled down her eyes, she shoved them away and more came to take their place. She smothered herself with a pillow and quietly wished for someone to make the pain stop. She slowly went back to sleep and awoke with the sun rising over the steamed rooftops. She went stepped out of her room. Alice groaned as she stretched and plopped down on the couch. Her golden blonde hair was messy; she needed to take a shower. She looked over at the restroom and panned around the whole apartment. It was one step shy of being condemned, if she and the pervert living down the hall didn't live here still, it would be. She leaned in putting her elbows on her knees and sighed.

The news anchor talked about Batman or Haley Brown's possible involvement in the gunfight at the Docks earlier. They seemed angry but you couldn't tell by the tone, probably because they couldn't get pictures was the reason. She rubbed her eye got off the couch. She went into the bathroom, stripped down naked and took a shower. She got out after a good 10 minutes, wiped the mirror down, dried her blonde hair and wrapped herself a in a towel. After getting dressed again she plopped back down on the couch and wrapped up the news with the weather report.

"You're life is pretty mediocre…"

Alice stiffened and looked behind her; a pair of white slits looked back at her in the darkness. Batman stepped out and crossed his arms, his usual pissed off and dark demeanor made the dreary apartment that much more intolerable.

"I thought you and me had an agreement?" Alice asked.

"We did Alice, but now I'm here to ask you to go to Haley Brown."

"What the hell're you talking about? I'd rather shoot myself in the head."

Batman looked at her, "I want a person to keep a tab on him, to keep him from doing something stupid."

"Not for a million dollars." Alice answered, "I don't like Brown but I'm not dumb enough to even dare mess with him in that sense."

"If you want to stay in Gotham you will."

"How about you kiss my ass and get out before I knock you through the wall?" Alice said.

Batman turned around, "You'll know my response shortly."

"Hey, Hagan." Alice replied, "The next time you want to play cape and cowl, do yourself a favor, Bats comes out at night."

Batman turned around, Alice threw a punch that literally decapitated him. His head reformed and mud slapped against the wall. He counter attacked putting his foot in front of him and using his full momentum. Alice burst out the side of the building, glass, brick and mortar joining her in the 10 story fall. She struck the park car and rolled off. Clayface lunged out the hole he made and hit the street. Alice wiped the side of her mouth.

"Alright little girly, time to wipe the street with that pretty little face of your's."

Alice spit off to the side, "Only thing that getting wiped is your ass off the side of the road, now put up or shut you over sized dingle berry."

Clayface trudged right for her, Alice stamped her foot against the ground, a root ripped up through the street, grabbed a parked car and hurled it at him from the side. The car got stuck in his side and almost knocked him over. Alice lunged up into the air and came down elbowing the hood of the car and knocking into the street taking Clayface with it.

She knew he wasn't solid and fighting the guy was like fighting the T-1000 from the Terminator, you couldn't knock the guys jaw out, you had to either wet him down or stuck some actual stuff in him and then hit the solid parts otherwise you're fighting a giant Mr. Hanky.

He got up and yanked the car out of him and threw it to the side. Alice smiled and taunted him to come and get it. Clayface threw a punch knocking her into a newspaper cart. She shook herself off and rose up as Clayface lunged and smothered her.

"Gunna suffocate you girly…" He said before the lights went dark.

Alice closed her mouth and thought hard. When she usually thought hard enough she could coax the earth to interfere with everything it had, she gave it about 5 seconds. Two cracks in the street cracked open and vines shot out like buck shot. Clayface whipped around and grabbed him in every form of the word tearing at him. He cried out in shot as they took piece after piece of him until Alice's arm was visible. They grabbed her and yanked her out; she kicked him knocking him off balance. The vines coursed through him like living veins and held him where he stood. Alice looked back; her teeth grit and you could tell this was going to hurt.

The whole of Gotham, the city itself let itself go in this punch. Alice threw it with everything she had letting out a yell. Clayface felt the shot to his gut and the force knocked him into the air like a cannon shot. Clayface sailed through the air and got one of the most spectacular views of Gotham before realizing something, he wasn't going towards land and at this speed hitting that water was going to hurt to an extent and he was going to have a heck of a time keeping himself together.

"God, I'm going to go straight, no more crime, if I live though this… please?" The fact that he landed on a garbage barge and almost sunk it was probably a divine maybe, he wasn't quite sure.

Alice stood in the street still in the pose of striking Clayface. She was panting angrily and was covered in muck. She didn't ponder the question of how she could send someone really all the way into Gotham Bay or for that matter the property damage or the fact that she'd probably made a couple of people cheer, she was thinking about how much of a pain in the ass it was going to be to clean herself off… again.

Barbara and Haley stayed in his room, discussing just about everything, how long she'd been wearing the cape, how many times she's almost been killed, Haley was doing his best not to scream.

"Dammit… I just… GAH! WHY!" Haley cried.

"Because Brown, my dad works hard, he never can accomplish anything real, besides, when I'm out there I feel like I'm doing the right thing."

"Babs, you've seen MY misery! Okay, you know when they find out, and believe me they will find out your identity. When they do they will hunt you down, this I can swear to. I've had to kill almost anyone who swore they'd never rest, my own MOTHER included okay." Haley reminded.

"I know the consequences."

Haley swept his finger behind him and pointed to the door signifying everything else, "Do they know the consequences. Are you selfish enough to put them in the line of fire!"

"How about you Brown! Everyone knows who you are and yet you stay in this house, what stops them from burning my house down like they did with your head quarters almost a year ago."

Haley looked at the ground, then looked up, he wasn't out of the game yet, "They KNOW what I'll do to them if they think about it. The Joker even knows its not smart to test me." Haley answered, "Me and Batman have fear but I don't show mercy like he does."

"And that's the exact reason Batman is a better person then you."

"Like I give a shit." Haley answered, "I did it to protect the people I love and that's why Batman will suffer tragedy because he doesn't go all the way."

"Alright, I'm tired of arguing, I'm tired of putting up with your banter, you don't like it but I'm not going to heed your warning Brown. I'm working for the betterment of Gotham City. Now I'm asking, as your cousin that you don't tell my dad."

"You know what, fine, but its your ass Barbara, you don't even dare think of dragging me down in your little deal." Haley answered.

Barbara stormed out of the room and slammed the door behind her. Haley sat down on his bed and sunk his head in his hands. He didn't need this anymore then he needed an ulcer. She was in over her head, Batman was not going to be able to keep everyone safe forever, they were bound to get hurt and none of them were Superman. Haley sighed and just knew this was how it started. He was getting dragged in, the person who wanted him back in the Game had one and that was that. Now though, it was telling the JLA and every other superhero that he was back. If he didn't go to the hospital, which he was sure of, he'd consider it a pretty smooth transition. The fact that Wonder Woman said she'd beat him to death was a different matter. He lay back on his bed and closed his eyes and fell asleep before he was aware.

"Brown. Brown…" A voice echoed.

"Brown… you bastard…" Said another.

Haley looked around, two more voices joined in the broken chorus, "Brown. Brown… Brown… you bastard."

Face started circling around him chanting it over and over again. They were the faces of people he'd killed, shot to death. Reggie Ramirez stared him in the face and smiled, blood leaked from his mouth. Haley turned around; another head started bleeding out of the forehead. The room started to fill with it, and he began to feel fear. Fire and brimstone rose from the blood and he saw skulls appear floating up from it. He screamed in horror and tried to get away but the chanting and the blood kept rising and he kept trying.

"DIE BROWN!" The shouted in unison.

Haley woke up, he was panting, cold beads of sweat leaked down his forehead and onto his white t-shirt. The words echoed in his head and he grimaced. Tears rolled off his nose mixing with the sweat. He swore silently to himself. His consequences were costing him his humanity and at points he wished that he'd never gotten this Hoody. He just couldn't see what he'd done right. Barbara's words echoed in his mind, 'That's the reason Batman is a better person…'. He knew what she meant, he knew why she was angry, hell he knew why everyone was angry.

"DAMNIT!" Haley cried.

He looked over at his clock, it was half past noon and he was still tired. A knock on his window made him look over. He went over and opened it up. He took a step back. Dick Grayson was wearing a zip up hooded jacket with a back pack.

"Can we talk?"

Author's Note: OKAY! Things that kept me from updating for a week. One, Laptop broke down, had to fix that. Two, I got sick and was down and out for three WHOLE days. On top of that, Jazz Band and Orchestra heated up but things have settled down as of late.

Next one up on Saturday or Sunday.