DC Infinity Presents
Batgirl # 27
Misfire
Part 2
"Prey."
Thomas Wayne High School
"What…what is…"
Cassandra froze when she felt Marnie's hands fall over the bandage. She tried to think of a story, of some way to hide the wound, but all the words in her head seemed to bottle neck at once, and her hesitation cost everything.
"Cassandra…?"
Cassandra Cain could see the exact moment when Marnie Herrs, her school counselor, realized the truth.
"…Batgirl."
"What?" Cassandra pulled her arm away, and tried to play dumb, "no I'm not!"
"I can't believe…" Marnie was still floored by the revelation that one of her students was actually one of Gotham's infamous vigilante's, "how…?"
"I can't be Batgirl," Cassandra said quickly, "you know I only just arrived in Gotham in the last year, and…"
"And you've just displayed a better use of language in the last thirty seconds than the entire time I've known you," Marnie observed, "under stress, you've suddenly become exceptional. Or have you always been?"
"I…have to go."
Marnie watched Cassandra leave in a mad dash, and then slumped behind her desk. She took her classes off, rubbed her eyes, looked towards the ceiling, and wondered aloud, "What the hell do I do now?"
oooOOooo
Cassandra turned down the first empty hallway she found, and whipped out her cell-phone, dialing on pure, frenzied instinct.
Oracle answered before the first dial finished, "Cass, what's…."
"She knows! Marnie Herrs knows!"
One the other end of the line, Barbara Grayson winced. She had been in the hero game long enough to know that no one, from Firestorm to Flash to even Batman himself, was able to keep their secret identity a complete secret, but that didn't mean she'd given up hope.
"How did she react?" Oracle asked.
"Shocked! I…I ran!" Cassandra confessed, all the while recounting each and every mistake. Why hadn't she worn long sleeves? Why had she allowed herself to be touched? Why had she been so foolish as to go to the actual meeting? She'd rather have accepted a thousand detentions than face what she had to face now, and was only just realizing it.
"Okay," Oracle processed the information, "first, Cassandra, I need you to calm down."
"I am calm!" Cassandra snapped.
"I can all but feel your pulse through the phone," Oracle countered, "calm. Down. You know panic won't make this situation any better."
Cassandra took a deep breath, and centered herself. Her heart beat resumed it's normal pace and her breathing slowed. Her mind was still running a marathon, but nothing more than usual.
"I'll monitor Ms. Herrs remotely," Oracle said, "and we have options if she chooses to go public. Right now, you need to get back to class, and make it through the day. I'll update Tatsu, and if anything changes, I'll inform you. Okay?"
"Okay," Cassandra replied. She put the phone away, then looked at her hand, and saw how it trembled. Cassandra found herself startled at the fear she now felt, the fear of losing her civilian life, and the uncertainty that now hung over it.
Cassandra stumbled into the hallway, and nearly jumped out of her skin when the final bell rang.
Students quickly flooded the hallway, and Cassandra made her way through silently. She half wondered if this would be her last time in these halls. After all, she'd lost count of how many times she'd heard someone say that the cause of villains were heroes, and while it never made sense to her, Cassandra always remembered how many people saw it as truth.
"Hey Cass!"
Cassandra turned to see Sarah Gibbs, with her easy smile, strolling towards her, "You up for hanging out some? Zoe, Josh and me were thinking about heading to the coffee shop down the street."
"I…" Cassandra realized that this might be the last time she saw her friends as Cassandra Cain, "yes. I had a long day."
"Didn't we all?" Sarah smiled.
Cassandra followed her friend outside, to where Zoe was already waiting for them.
"Cassandra!" Zoe called out, "how'd the meeting go?"
Cassandra was about to reply, when she saw Josh and two of his teammates sneaking up behind Zoe. Cassandra's instincts almost took over, thinking this was some odd sort of ambush, until Sarah tapped her lightly on the hand. Cassandra looked at her friend, and saw the knowing smile calmed her battle forged reaction.
Zoe saw her friends looking at something behind her, and snapped her head around.
"Josh, don't you dare!" Zoe said, but it was already too late.
"Go, go go!" Josh said.
Josh rushed in front of Zoe, and got down on one knee like he was about to hike a football. While he did that, his two teammates gently grabbed Zoe on both sides, and picked her, one hand under the elbow, one hand under her back thigh. They lifted her a few feet in the air and placed her on Josh's shoulder's. Zoe's crutches slid free, but she was too busy laughing to care much.
"Mech Zoe, combine!" Josh sprang up, with Zoe still on his back.
"Oh M! G!" Zoe laughed, "this is so stupid!"
"Idiot forms the head!" Josh put his arms out to the side, "awesome football star makes up the body!"
"So that makes you the ass too, don't it?" asked Dwayne, one of Josh's football teammates.
"I'm not perfect," Josh said, "thanks guys for the take down, I'll take it from here."
"Anytime," the two boys nodded to Zoe. Any friend of Josh was by default, a friend of theirs, "see you at practice later."
"Alright Mecha-Zoe, mush!" Zoe flicked Josh's ear, "your queen demands it!"
"Queen? Queen's don't pilot mechs!"
"Did in Zoltron!"
"She was a princess!"
"Fine, I'm a princess," Zoe said, "fitting, since I'm in the perfect position to look down my nose at everyone. Yay symmetry!"
"You grow a few inches and you go mad with power," Sarah rolled her eyes, as she picked up Zoe's crutches.
"Well, actually…"
"Don't ruin this by being a perv," Zoe swatted Josh on the head, "come on, lets go already!"
Cassandra felt like crying as she watched her friends horsing around, because it felt like this would be the last time that she'd ever see them. She realized the bitter irony of how she never really appreciated what she had, until it was slipping through her fingers.
oooOOooo
Elsewhere
"I'd like to welcome everyone here to this lovely community garden!"
Jessica Harrington stood atop an overturned wheel-barrel, and was surrounded by dozens of people, all shouting her name.
"A garden my opponent Matt Holmes wants to destroy for so called development! Because he doesn't care about the heart of Gotham! Politicans like him are why Gotham is the way it is, filled with corruption and disease!"
"Jessica! Jessica!" they all shouted, like a survival mantra.
"He thinks that you'll be too afraid, too complacent with the way the city is run to turn out Tuesday! What do we say to that!"
"No way, can't keep us away!" was the chant.
"That's right! Because people like us are the true heart of Gotham! People like us who have hope for a better future, and a willingness to get there!"
Resting on a park bench a few hundred meters away, Floyd Lawton, watched the rally with a smirk on his face.
"No future without the past, is there, sweetheart?"
oooOOooo
Later
Cassandra took a deep breath, and turned the knob to the townhouse she and Tatsu shared.
"Tatsu…we have a problem," Cassandra said.
"Barbara already informed me," Tatsu shouted from the kitchen. Cassandra could hear her washing the dishes, "there's nothing we can do about it now. Why don't you go downstairs and get ready for tonight? I'll bring dinner down in a little."
Cassandra didn't question the suggestion, or why Tatsu was willing to serve dinner in her Batcave (something up until now she steadfastly refused to). She was just so relieved not to have to explain to her guardian how she'd screwed everything up, how she'd put both their civilian lives, that she accepted any excuse to delay the talk about the consequences.
When Tatsu heard Cassandra make her way towards her cave, she breathed a sigh of relief. Because she herself wasn't quite certain how they were going to handle all this, but she couldn't let Cassandra see that.
As a parent, Tatsu knew that Cassandra would expect her to have some sort of idea of where to go next. And frankly, she had no idea what they would do next. That all depended on Marnie Herrs, and they hadn't heard a thing from her yet.
"I hate waiting," Tatsu muttered.
oooOOooo
Cassandra entered her cave, and saw the peculiar sight.
Connor sat in the center of the cave, lotus style, wearing only a pair of sweat pants. Behind him where three of her target dummies, arrows in all the bullseyes.
Cassandra took a moment to take in Connor Hawke as a whole. He was calm, centered. But she could see a strength, a force of will behind that, a strength she found in only a handful of people.
Cassandra allowed herself to be heard as she came in, and Connor sensed her immediately.
"Batgirl, welcome back," Connor rose, giving Cassandra an excellent view of his well developed chest, "how was your day?"
"Terrible," Cassandra said quickly, though at the moment, it didn't feel as bad as it did a few minutes ago.
"I'm sorry to hear that," Connor said, "I reviewed the files on Deadshot, but I really couldn't think of what else to do, so I decided to meditate."
"And practice?" Cassandra nodded to the targets.
"Oh, right, that hadn't even occurred to me," Connor said.
"I could use some practice," Cassandra picked up Connor's bow and tested the tensile strength of the string. She plucked several arrows from one of the target dummies, "I've never…practiced on a bow as much as I wanted. Could you…give me some lessons?"
"Of course," Connor said.
Casssandra drew the bow taut, and Connor took a moment to correct her stance. That he had to stand so close, to correct her stance, was a mere formality. It wasn't as if Connor meant to invade Cassandra's personal space.
oooOOooo
"Oh my God, this is just the best thing ever," Barbara Gordon-Grayson, feared by villains everywhere as mistress of computers, Oracle giggled, as Cassandra let the first shaft fly, missing the bulleyes by an inch.
"I feel like I'm failing her as a big brother," said Dick Grayson, as he watched over his wife's shoulder, "I should want to beat him up, but I just can't find the outrage. It's Connor, for pete's sake! He's like an automatic drain on any over-protective outrage!"
"He doesn't even see what she's doing, either," Oracle chuckled, "my God, they would have the cutest babies!"
"Het now, lets not get ahead of ourselves," Nightwing said, "it might take Connor a few years to even realize what she's doing."
"Yeah," Oracle sighed.
"So…"
"So…"
"Marnie hasn't done anything yet," Oracle said, "no emails about Cass, no texts, no private meetings as far as I can tell, nothing, she's just stewing it over."
"Guess that's good," said Nightwing, "you worked with the Suicide Squad when she was there, right?"
"No, she'd left by the time I made real contact," Oracle said, "but at the time, Waller did make a point to hire honest, dedicated people, people who weren't yes men. That Waller thought Ms. Herrs was enough to stand up to her says a lot."
"Even if she did work on the Suicide Squad," Nightwing muttered.
"Did you just forget that so did I?" Oracle said quickly. That point in her career was something of a 'don't ask, don't tell' between her and most of the other 'family', but she wasn't about to tolerate that from her own husband, "and might I remind you that she's dedicated her career to helping children? You can't think that I'd let her near Cassandra, if she wasn't one of the best?"
"Sorry," Nightwing rubbed the back of his neck, "I just want to know where we should go, but we can't know where to go until Marnie does whatever she plans on doing. This waiting is getting to me."
"Maybe you could take a cue from Cassandra on how to relax," Oracle winked.
"Oh no, I have no intention of being that tame."
oooOOooo
Later
Paul Stewart felt the hairs on the back of his neck stand up the moment the sun went down. He'd been a supplier in Gotham for years, and he had long since developed a sixth sense for when he was under the scrutiny of 'The Bats'.
The fact that his biggest client was in town was a tip off too.
So instead of heading home to his apartment, Paul made his way to his safe-house. It was literally across the city, paid for in cash under an assumed name, and watched over by a gang shot-caller who owed him a few favors.
Paul had just locked the reinforced steel door, when someone was polite enough to click on the light.
"Hello," said Green Arrow.
Paul whipped out his Desert Eagle, and pointed it at the heroes.
Batgirl crooked her head to the side.
With a resigned sigh, Paul dropped the weapon.
"Where did you leave it?"
"Leave what?" Paul glanced aside.
Batgirl grabbed Paul by the collar, and slammed him against his door, "You arranged a contract for Deadshot, then had a rifle delivered to a dead drop! Now you will tell me everything you know, or else!"
"Or else what?" Paul smirked.
Batgirl released him, and gave him a wry grin, "Or else, I won't touch you."
"What?" said Green Arrow and Paul.
"Won't hurt you, promise."
To his surprise, Green Arrow saw Paul beginning to sweat.
To Paul, beatdowns from the Bat were a badge of honor, proof of one's mettle. If you crossed the Bat, and didn't come away with at least a few bruises, a broken nose or some kind of pain to show for it, it was just assumed that you were a push-over, or worse, a snitch.
And in Gotham, assumption like that didn't make one an ass, it made them dead.
"Come on," Paul pleaded, "you can't do that, not to me!"
Batgirl stepped back, and Green Arrow saw how her body language was completely devoid of any violence.
"Okay, okay," Paul sighed, "I left Floyd a rifle at the Fifth station bus terminal. I gave him half a clip, that's all, honest!"
Batgirl didn't move.
"Come on, this is bad enough as is!" Paul pleaded, "don't make me beg like a freak!"
"You're holding back," said Batgirl, "why shouldn't I?"
"Fine!" Paul threw his hands up in the air, "according to Floyd, he didn't get paid his usual commission. Little under, but that's all I know, I swear!"
"I believe you."
"Good!" Paul saw Batgirl crack her knuckles, "…great. Not the face, okay?"
oooOOooo
Elsewhere
"Up now, Peter. The gutter is no place for one of God's children."
Father Craemer helped the elderly man up, and into the Church van.
"Good as place as any," muttered the man.
"Then any place that's not this is just as good," smiled the Father.
As the Aged Priest helped a handful of Gotham's less fortunate into the vam for transport to a decent shelter, he had no way of knowing that he'd himself been spotted by a young man.
"Unbelievable," Peter Hall muttered, as he saw the man he held responsible for destroying his life. The seventeen year old watched in disbelief, "he kept his collar. He's still out there…!"
Peter fumed, and took a moment to memorize the van's license plates.
Maybe there really was a God, Peter reflected. Because now he had an opportunity for revenge on the man who exploited his trust, and utterly destroyed his life.
"Amen," Peter muttered.
oooOOooo
"I don't mean to question you, but are you sure about this?"
Green Arrow and Batgirl stood atop a rooftop that neighbored Hyde Park. Down below, at the dedication of a new community garden. The two main fore-runners, Matt Holmes and Jessica Harrington, were both there, sitting there patiently as the student speaker gave her speech.
"Deadshot wouldn't want to travel far with his rifle," Batgirl said, then scowled. She could see at least a dozen different sniper's nest that any half decent sniper could use, and Lawton was the best.
Batgirl took a moment to observe the difference between the two. Matt Holmes barely disguised his boredom, while Jessica Harrington was filed with energy and anticipation. The two couldn't be more different.
Batgirl realized it wouldn't matter if she was wrong, if Lawton managed to put a bullet in one of them, if he got away…
If, if, if. There were too many ifs in her plan, Batgirl knew. He would never approve, but it was better than nothing.
And a part of Batgirl was grateful she had a plan to worry about, as opposed to worrying what was going to happen with Marnie Herrs.
The mask brought a strange sort of clarity to Cassandra Cain. It gave her focus, a target.
But more and more, she found herself enjoying the time she spent outside of the mask. And the thought that all disappearing…
Not far away, Deadshot lay in wait. He had his target, he was concealed, and all he had to do now was wait for his shot.
When the time came, he barely took a moment to adjust his scope. He flicked the safety off, and…
oooOOoo
Home
When Tatsu heard a knock on the door, she closed her book, and scanned the apartment with a detached eye. There were no dishes in the sink, no papers scattered on the table and no groceries that weren't where they were supposed.
Her home looked absolutely pristine, and it was only after making it so that Tatsu realized her mistake. The perfect home didn't look like one that was actually lived in, after all. It looked fake, an obvious pretense that leaned towards deception. She only wished her had that epiphany before she scrubbed the floors.
The door bell rang again, somehow sounding impatient. When Tatsu opened the door, the person on the other side was no surprise at all.
"Good evening, I suppose we need to talk."
"Yes, yes we do," said Marnie Herrs, "Because I can't think of one reason why I shouldn't call the police, DEO, or child protective services."
Next Issue: Batgirl and Green Arrow vs. Deadshot! Tatsu vs. Marnie Herrs! Cats vs. Dogs!