DC Infinity Presents
Batgirl # 26
Misfire
Part 1
"The Hunt."
Thomas Wayne High School
"Come on girls, lets pick it up!" Coach Harker slapped her hands together, "don't think you're getting out of this without breaking a sweat!"
Cassandra Cain did her best not to roll her eyes. Basketball was a demanding sport for most other girls her age, but not to Cassandra. She found that she had to hold back while her teammates went all out.
The team was divided into two, and Cassandra was doing all she could not to embarrass the entire team by running circles around them herself. Nightwing and Oracle had stressed that she not stand out too much, but it was hard to know how much was too much when the people she associated with her only a few steps below her physically.
"Cain, get your rear over here!" Coach Harker snapped.
Cassandra politely excused herself, and sighed in annoyance when she saw who was standing next to Coach Harker.
"Good to see you, Cassandra," said Marnie Herrs, Cassandra's counselor, "I need to talk about your appointments."
Cassandra nodded, but said nothing. It wasn't that Cassandra didn't like Marnie's, but given the secrecy that surrounded her life day in and day out, Cassandra didn't much look forward to their meetings.
"I've been studying," Cassandra replied.
"I understand that, but school policy mandates at least two meetings a week," Marnie replied, "you've missed three sessions already, honey."
"Don't use this team as an excuse," Coach Harker turned back to the team, "Jessica, you have teammates, use them! Isabelle, pay attention!"
"I've been fine," Cassandra defended.
"That's not for you to decide, dear," said Marnie, "and I'm afraid this isn't a debate. When would be a good time for us to meet, and discuss your progress?"
"Tomorrow," Cassandra muttered.
oooOOooo
When Tatsu smiled as she heard the door open.
"Welcome home, Cassandra."
Cassandra grunted as she set her books down on the table. The meeting with Marnie
"What did you learn today?"
"Started world war one," Cassandra replied. She opened her history book, and began reviewing the assigned pages.
Tatsu turned her back to Cassandra, and removed dinner from the fridge, "Oh, by the way, Bruce called. He said he'd like to speak to you after…"
Tatsu turned around, and saw that Cassandra had vanished.
"…dinner. Why did I not see that coming?"
oooOOooo
"I saw that your team won their latest game."
"We did," Cassandra said. She examined Batman carefully. When she reached out to him, she expected, she hoped, that he was going to give her a mission. But instead, he was making ideal conversation about her life "scored two of the last three points."
"That's…good," Batman said. His body language was tense, guarded and defensive, but well below his usual standard. It was as close as Cassandra had ever him to being confused.
"Is…everything okay?" Cassandra asked.
"Everything's fine, I'm simply busy," Half a world away, from the other side of the monitor, Bruce Wayne, The Batman, was keenly aware of another monitor that read 'You talk to her about school or all your hard-drives are slag', "Checkmate requires twice the amount of effort being Batman ever did. I'm actually calling about some intelligence we intercepted."
"You have a mission?" Cassandra stood up straighter.
"I have confirmed intel that Deadshot has an assignment in Gotham," said Batman, "I've assigned Green Arrow to assist you in bringing him."
Cassandra scowled, "I don't need help…taking down Deadshot."
"I'm not sending Green Arrow because I doubt your ability to handle Lawton," Batman said, "Lawton is the government's gunman of choice. The week after you brought him in, the government would release him on a Suicide Squad mission and we'd be back to square one. I've made…arrangements so that won't happen this time."
"Understood," Cassandra said. She wasn't fond of Green Arrow, but Batman's logic, as ever, was flawless. There was little point to putting Lawton in jail if all that meant was that he was changing employers, "anything else?"
"Not at the moment," Batman said. Cassandra observed how a monitor in front of Batman was suddenly bleeping red, and Batman tensed, "but I wanted to say, I've been following your progress, and I've been very impressed. Keep up the good work."
The monitor went dead, which was just as well as Cassandra was too stunned to hear anything else.
oooOOooo
Later
Batgirl found the idea of working with Green Arrow easy to handle with a full stomach. The glow of Batman's comments hadn't yet faded from her system, but Batgirl still willed herself not to think too much about working with Green Arrow while looking for Deadshot.
It would only spoil her mood.
She'd worked alongside Green Arrow once before, while serving undercover on the JLA Elite. He was the only member Batman trusted her identity to from the beginning, and in the field he was skilled and seasoned professional, someone Batgirl knew she could rely on no matter what.
But in private…well, Batgirl had seen Black Canary and Green Arrow together and she still had no idea what the older woman saw in that man. The way he looked at virtually every woman, the way he picked pointless arguments to cover his own self doubts, she just didn't care for any of it.
She pulled her motorcycle into an alley adjoining the rendezvous point, and took a moment to prepare herself. She reminded herself that she had dealt with all sorts of sociopaths, killers and madmen. Green Arrow, one on one, couldn't be worse than them, right?
"Hey, spandex boy, get lost, man!"
Batgirl heard the shouts, and couldn't help but roll her eyes. Green Arrow loved to talk, but she saw how more than anything, he simply basked in the attention, positive or negative, his words brought. So it was no surprise to her that he'd already started a fight.
But when Batgirl stuck her head out, and looked down towards the street, she was surprised by what she found.
The Green Arrow standing in the street, surrounded by gangbangers, had light brown skin, an easy and calm demeanor despite being surrounded by heavily armed men, and had absolutely no traces of aggression in his body language while he maintained an easy calm.
Batgirl recognized Connor Hawk, and though she'd worked with him in the past, she always wished it could have been more personal. His body language was interesting in a way Batgirl couldn't put her finger on.
"You need to get gone!" Mike 'Speedy' Hunt aimed his snub nose revolver at the Archer, "we got business here!"
Connor Hawk held his hands up in a genuinely peaceful gesture, as if it were all a simple disagreement, "If your business is legitimate, my presence shouldn't be an issue. I'll happily stand wherever you tell me to, but I'm meeting someone here, so I can't leave."
"Hell you is!"
Batgirl observed the man behind Green Arrow pull a knife, and Green Arrow responded with a round house kick that sent the six foot four man flying to the ground, while Green Arrow came around a full 360 degrees, to where he was still standing down the barrel of 'Speedy''s gun.
"I'm also willing to defend myself," said Connor, "but I'd really rather not hurt anyone."
The now five men looked at one another, trying to find the courage in their friends that they lacked.
"I would."
Batgirl strolled down the street, her emblem visible to the world.
"Batgirl, good to see you," Connor didn't even bat an eye as the men took off like they were competing in the thirty yard dash.
"Green Arrow," Batgirl said, "did Batman have any information on where Deadshot was staying?"
"No," Connor shook his head, "he told me to trust you."
Batgirl fought to keep the smile off her face. She motioned for Green Arrow to follow her, "Lawton had several places he…prefers to stay in Gotham. We'll start at the most important."
oooOOooo
The Campaign offices of Matt Holmes
"That Harrington bitch is up three points in the polls, boss."
Matt Holmes chuckled despite himself, "Mike, please, so some respect for the fairer sex. Just call her an asshole, okay?"
"Boss, this is serious," Mike slapped the print-out of the latest polls on his boss' desk, "she's climbed six points in the past week, and you've done nothing to stop her momentum!"
Mr. Holmes didn't even look up from his game of Angry Birds, "Don't have to. This election is nothin' more than going through the motions, you'll see."
"Sir…"
"Oh, this must be serious, you called me sir," Mat chuckled. He set down his game, and smirked, "look, this Jessica bitch polls well with the blacks and latinos in the district, but so what. Neither turn up to actually stinkin' vote unless I piss them off, meanwhile I got the Asians and lower class whites on lockdown."
"I know that, but…"
"No buts," Matt replied, then with a cruel smile, said, "besides, this is Gotham. That bitch is an idealist, and you know what happens to those in this city."
oooOOooo
Elsewhere
"Okay, Jake, I'll talk to Mrs. Guffrie tomorrow about your homework, but it's beyond late. Get to bed, okay?"
"Sure thing, Ms. Herrs. See you tomorrow!"
Marnie Herrs watched her student walk into his house, and then sighed.
Tonight had been something of a breakthrough, but only because tonight's session had been nothing short of a marathon. She and Jake had talked for hours, so long in fact that she had to call his parents to let them know she would be taking him home, long enough that she had to make a note to speak to his teachers and explain why he actually didn't have the time to do his homework and later, order dinner for the both of them.
But despite it all, despite the fact that it was nearly ten at night, Marnie Herrs felt refreshed, better than she had in weeks. Because she could look at Jake, and know she'd made a difference.
Marnie pulled her car down the street, and without meaning to, suddenly recognized the neighborhood she was in, and she felt her mood darken despite herself.
Her thoughts drifted back to when she was working for the government, attached to the Black-ops team known as the Suicide Squad. It was her job to help evaluate felons for inclusion in the program, to see who could handle the stress.
Looking back, Marnie didn't know why she ever agreed to be part of the program. She thought it would help some of the felons chosen to participate in the program, and she was young enough, naïve enough to think that she might actually be doing some good.
It wasn't until Amanda Waller threw Deadshot into the field, against all professional advice and he was nearly killed, that Marnie realized she couldn't in good conscience remain a part of the organization.
From that job, Marnie bounced from one program to another, until she ended up in Gotham, and found her dream job. But Marnie could hardly forget her time in the Suicide Squad, for a host of reasons.
"Don't get lured in," Marnie muttered to herself, and was ready to drive away when she saw a light coming from the house.
"Damn it," Marnie banged her head against the steering wheel, and parked on the street. If there was someone in the house, Marnie knew that she couldn't leave, and still be able to live with herself later.
Three sets of eyes fell upon the young teacher as she came up the sidewalk, and opened the door.
"Hello, is anyone here?"
Marnie Herrs gripped the taser in her pocket and wondered just how she ever graduated college when she was stupid enough to do something like this. She was no stranger to Gotham's darker side, how it cut down people without hesitation. For God's sake, she dealt with its younger victims every day.
But, that was a reminder in and of itself why she felt the need to venture into this house. Because in the end, Marnie couldn't allow anyone to be hurt if there was anything she could do to help.
"If anyone's here, you need to leave," Marnie said loud enough to be heard throughout the house. She wasn't about to leave the front foyer, "the former owner of this house killed the last squatters. He's a dangerous man, and won't hesitate to kill you just for sleeping here."
"I never killed anyone for sleeping here. Winged a guy, sure, but not kill."
Marnie jumped at the sound of the voice, and spun around.
Floyd Lawton, Deadshot, was lean against the wall across from her, a cigarette in one hand.
Marnie pulled her hand away from the taser in her purse like it was a hot iron. Not necessarily because she felt the least bit safer, but because she knew Deadshot, both as a patient and professional. He was one of the best marksmen in the world, perhaps the greatest gunman alive.
The taser in her purse was nothing more than an excuse to shoot her.
"I read the report, Floyd," Marnie said carefully. She was reasonably confident that, so long as she didn't actually threaten Deadshot, he wouldn't actually shoot her.
But then, Marnie preferred to be more than 'reasonably certain' regarding whether or not she was about to be killed.
"Those were just assholes who thought they could use this place as a flop house," Deadshot said, "is that why you're here, to make sure I don't shoot someone?"
"Is there any other reason to come in here?" Marnie asked.
"Just wondering if you're still sweet on me," said Deadshot, "hell, why are you even in Gotham?"
"Visiting a friend," Marnie knew better to even breath a word of her job, even if keeping her occupation secret wasn't the first clause in her contract. Floyd was vastly different from the other Rogues of Gotham, but all the same she wasn't about to risk any of her kids, "Now that we've established why I'm here, can I go?"
"No, not yet," Deadshot said, but he never leveled his wrist guns at her, "you'd just call the police."
"I'd be missed," Marnie said instinctively, and took a step back.
"I won't," Deadshot said casually, "but so don't make me. Don't worry, you won't be spending the night. I just need a new place to crash and that'll take a minute. Follow me into the living room."
"Floyd…"
"Don't make me wing you," Deadshot said.
Marnie sighed, and followed the Mercenary. The living room was stripped bare, except for a sleeping bag and a pile of spent cigarettes. It put Spartans to shame.
"Why are you here, Floyd?"
"Money," Deadshot said, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.
"I didn't mean in Gotham," Marnie said, "I meant, why are you in this house?"
Deadshot said nothing
"You could buy half the safe-houses in Gotham," Marnie said, "but instead you crash in a rundown hovel where you used to live with your family. It seems to me that you're punishing yourself."
"Like the neighborhood," Deadshot picked up a burner phone.
"What you're doing isn't healthy," Marnie said, "there is a way out for you, from all this."
"I know," Deadshot said, "but I still haven't found the right bag and tag."
"Floyd…"
Deadshot raised his wrist pistol towards Marnie, "You know why this was my first choice?"
Marnie felt her heartbeat quicken.
"Because I know this house better than anyone alive."
Deadshot swung his arm to the side, and bullets spat out from his cannons and tore through the plaster of the wall.
Green Arrow ducked for cover, and Deadshot swung his other arm and fired a single shot, destroying the batarang that was flying towards his head.
"Whoa!" Marnie felt a powerful pair of hands grab her, and pulled her out of the living room, and pushed her into the nearby half bath.
"Stay!" Batgirl barked.
Batgirl slammed the door shut, and Marnie wisely hunkered down.
"Smooth."
Batgirl gritted her teeth, and tried to think of a way out. She was in the hallway in between the foyer and the living room, and Deadshot had her dead to rights. There was too little room to dodge and not enough time to reach a weapon. Batgirl was running through where to take the bullet, where it could hit while impairing her the least, when a split second before Deadshot's wrist cannon spat out a slug, an arrow sank into his wrist, and the shot went wild.
The bullet clipped Batgirl's left arm, but she didn't much notice as she reached for into her belt for explosive globes.
She rolled them across the floor, and Deadshot turned and ran, throwing himself through the sliding glass door as the concussion blast slammed into him, and pitched him into the backyard like a football.
"You okay?" Green Arrow glanced at Batgirl as they followed Deadshot, and saw the blood on her arm.
"Fine," Batgirl replied.
Deadshot rolled onto his back, and opened fire with both guns. Batgirl slid around the shots like a ballerina, but found herself forced to a stop. Deadshot wasn't good enough to hit her, not with his attention divided, but he was still good enough to keep her from approaching.
One look at Green Arrow revealed the same thing. He was agile, and skilled enough, to keep from getting being shot, but couldn't advance or notch an arrow.
"Okay, enough of this prancing," Deadshot huffed. He stopped shooting, and pointed a wrist cannon at his own head, "back up, or I get it."
Batgirl stopped instantly, and glanced towards Green Arrow. She expected him to protest, to try to call Deadshot's bluff, but the concern in his body language was impossible to miss.
"You don't need to do that," Green Arrow said, "there's no reason why we can't find a peaceful solution to all this."
"Dead is peaceful," Deadshot climbed to his feet, gun still pointed at his own head.
Batgirl studied Deadshot carefully, observing how nonchalant he was about the possibility of his own death. She could see in no uncertain terms that he would pull the trigger if provoked.
"Deadshot, please, reconsider!" Green Arrow pleaded, "no amount of money is worth dying over!"
"If it's worth killing for, then it's worth dying for," Deadshot said.
Batgirl was so focused on the arm raised at Deadshot's head, that she almost missed how his free hand had grabbed something from his belt.
Her instincts recognized it as a detonator long before her brain did, but before she could reach a batarang, Deadshot pressed the button, and the top floor of the house behind them exploded, the force of the blast knocking Batgirl and Green Arrow from their feet.
"You Bats aren't the only ones who know how to use explosives," Deadshot said with a smirk. He pulled the arrow from his wrist with a grunt, and dropped it on the ground, "didn't you leave someone in there? Might want to make sure she's okay."
Batgirl forced herself to her feet, and ran into the house, with Green Arrow close behind.
Deadshot watched his old home, the house where his dead son took his first steps and celebrated too few Christmas', burn like a roman candle. He killed sixteen men to keep them from defiling it, and now it burned at his own hand for the sake of a distraction.
Deadshot reflected on how that made him feel, before he turned and ran.
"Huh."
oooOOooo
"Marnie!" Batgirl kicked the door to the bathroom in, and found no one.
"Out here!"
Batgirl breathed a sigh of relief when she saw Marnie out on the lawn, safe and sound. She and Green Arrow sprinted outside, and turned to watch as the fire began to grow.
"He was just waiting for an excuse," Marnie sighed, as she watched the flames lick into the air, consuming what little remained of Deadshot's past. Though she stopped caring about Deadshot on a personal level, on a clinical level Marnie couldn't help but mourn the symbolic loss that the house represented to the hired gun. It was the only tangible thing he had left that connected him to his dead family.
"Should we try to pick up his trail?" Green Arrow asked.
"No," Batgirl said. She didn't feel comfortable talking in Marnie's presence. One of the first thing she learned, when she gained the gift of language, was how to do 'The Voice', but all the same, Batgirl was all too aware of her own shortcomings with the spoken word.
The less she said around someone who knew her civilian persona, the better.
Batgirl was a little surprised how Green Arrow just accepted her answer. He wasn't a native to Gotham, he couldn't have known how a professional like Deadshot would have had a means of escaped preplanned just in case or how his superior knowledge of the neighborhood would have given him a deadly advantage at night.
But he deferred to her judgment without reservation all the same. Not out of fear, but because of respect.
She liked that.
"Are you okay?" Marnie asked on reflex, when she saw the wound on Batgirl's left arm.
"Fine," Batgirl said quickly, "Green Arrow. Lets go."
oooOOooo
Later
"So, Connor, where are you staying the night?"
Cassandra examined Tatsu as the older woman stitched her arm.
There was something behind her questions, and Cassandra didn't trust it.
"I hadn't made any exact plans, actually," Connor said, "I was given some money for expenses, so I thought I'd just get a hotel room for the night."
"There are no decent hotel rooms you could find available at this late," Tatsu replied, "at least none that wouldn't draw attention. Why don't you stay the night here? We have a guest room, it's free and you'll be close by for when Cassandra finishes her classes."
"Really, I couldn't impose," Connor said.
"It's not a problem at all," Tasu replied, "please, it would be better for everyone."
"If you insist," Connor said, "I promise I won't be I the way."
"Care to spar later?" Cassandra offered.
Tatsu cleared her throat.
"Light sparring?"
Tatsu flicked Cassandra's arm, and young heroine trembled slightly. The shot was shallow, but close to a nerve. Cassandra breathed a little easier when Tatsu applied a special bandage over the wound, colored to match her skin perfectly, and then began to brush special water proof make-up over it.
To the naked eye, her arm was in perfect health.
"You're going to bed, because you have school and a meeting tomorrow."
"…right," Cassandra muttered, "Marnie, was there. At Deadshot's place."
"According to Oracle, they have history," Tatsu said.
"Lovers?" Green Arrow asked.
"Therapist," Tatsu replied.
"They weren't working together," Batgirl said, "she was just there…to help. I heard her while getting into…po…position. Prevent anyone from being killed."
"Then you two have something in common," Tatsu said.
oooOOooo
The Next Morning
Cassandra, freshly showered, brushed her teeth mechanically, as if just going through the motions would delay her meeting with Marnie later. It was bad enough that she had to keep secrets, but now that Marnie had secrets of her own, the meeting seemed twice as useless now.
Cassandra, lost in nervous anticipation, didn't pay much mind to the presence she felt waiting outside the bathroom. She knew someone was out there, but didn't care who it was exactly. Still working on auto-pilot, Cassandra just assumed it was Tatsu.
She learned otherwise when she stepped into the hall, wrapped in only a towel, and saw Connor Hawke standing there, a towel wrapped around his waist.
"Oh!" Connor began to blush, "I'm sorry, I thought you were done. I didn't hear you in the bathroom."
"Sorry," Cassandra didn't stare at Connor's perfect chest. No one could prove otherwise. And she certainly didn't blush too, "always…stealth…y. Stealthy. Bat thing."
"Right…" Connor rubbed the back of his neck and tried to put on a good natured smile. He didn't stare at Cassandra's finely tuned body. Because that was rude and he wasn't his father's son with women. No one could prove otherwise, "so…done, right?"
"Right."
The two stood there, too distracted, nervous and embarrassed all at once, to move.
"Ah-hem!" Tatsu cleared her throat, and the two young heroes jumped, "Cassandra, you need to be ready to leave in ten minutes. Get dressed. Connor, I trust you can keep yourself entertained while we're gone?"
"Yes ma'am!" Connor said on reflex.
oooOOooo
To Cassandra, the day inched by. Her meeting with Marnie was set for just before lunch, but that still left three classes and several hours that seemed to drag on endlessly.
"So why are you being led to the gallows?"
Cassandra looked at Zoe curiously.
"You're all nervous," Zoe said, "what, you actually do bad in a class?"
"Have to meet with counselor," Cassandra said, "not looking forward to it."
"Why not? My counselor, Beth, is beyond awesome. And they can be pretty helpful, ya know."
Cassandra mulled how to reply, "Not a lot to talk about."
"Oh, your amnesia thingy."
Cassandra nodded at the cover story. It didn't come up much, Oracle had explained that people really didn't talk about that kind of thing in polite conversation, but as far as everyone was concerned, Cassandra was just a survivor of the Bludhaven Chemo attack, who was lucky to only lose her memory.
To Cassandra, it was just one more reason why she didn't like meeting with Marnie. How could she help her, when Marnie didn't really know her at all?
"Well, try to find something, Cass. Keeping things bottled up, it's no way to live. Trust me."
oooOOooo
"So…" Marnie said. She had Cassandra's file in hand, notes for the meeting written down, but Marnie couldn't bring herself to focus. She had too little sleep from last night, and too much stress and reflection in the morning. Seeing Deadshot again had brought back memories and emotions the young therapist thought she had resolved long ago.
"So…" Cassandra replied, unsure of what to say. When it came to conversation, she usually struggled to find her place, but it was even worse now.
"How has class been?"
"Good," Cassandra replied without a second thought.
"Making friends?"
"Yes," Cassandra offered no details.
"Have you remembered anything from your past?"
Cassandra shook her head.
"How…" Marnie pushed her glasses up and rubbed the bridge of her nose, "no, no, I'm sorry Cassandra, this isn't working."
Marnie stood up and walked around her desk.
"I was up late last night," Marnie said, "and I'm not at my best, and I'm not helping you at all, I'm just wasting your time. We'll reschedule for tomorrow, okay?"
"Okay," Cassandra tried to appear nonchalant. She stood up, and picked up her backpack, "hope…things are better for you later."
"Thank you."
Marnie felt like scum as Cassandra stepped around her to leave. No matter what was going on in her life, she was failing this young woman who was her responsibility, all because of a half felt, self-destructive crush from years ago.
"Cassandra, wait!" Marnie grabbed Cassandra by the arm.
Cassandra didn't react to the pain that lanced through her arm when Marnie grabbed her injury. But she did freeze because Marnie's hands were on the flesh covered patch that disguised the wound.
"What…what is…"
Marnie looked at the young girl, baffled. She thought her hand was touching flesh, it looked like she was touching flesh, but she felt plastic underneath her fingers. On Cassandra's left arm.
"Cassandra…?"
The events of last night leapt to the forefront of her Marnie's mind.
"…Batgirl."
Next Issue: The Secret is out! What happens now?
Afterward:
Batman's running Checkmate? Huh?
Well, as you may or may not know, this series was started as a part of a group fanfiction site. First one being DC Revolutions, which folded, then DC Infinity, which folded (don't blame me, DC sites rarely last). But I've decided to keep the continuity of DCI, in which Batman assumed control of Checkmate and staffed it with loyal super hero agents, for the express purpose of having an excuse to keep Bats outta Gotham. I like it better with just Cass and Nightwing taking care of the city, though we'll see other Bat family members as the need arises.
If you enjoyed the issue, please leave a review! They're like fuel to writers like myself. Also, check out my other stuff like 'A Little Green' and 'Force Works'. They're just as good as this, promise!