The Butler's Apprentice – Part 4
Mary sat at a bench in the one park in Gotham that was generally considered safe enough for women and children. At least during day time. It was four in the afternoon, the pre-arranged pick up time, but Alfred had just called to let her know he would be delayed by half an hour.
After five months in the 21st century, she had gotten pretty good at using a cell phone.
Her bench stood in a quiet corner of the park, half-hidden between two blooming lilac bushes. Mary closed her eyes and breathed in deeply, savouring the flowery fragrance in the mild Spring air.
When she opened her eyes again, a figure was standing in front of her.
It was a middle-aged man with a pudgy chin and a massive body, wearing a large grey coat and a bowler hat. His eyes shone in an almost unnatural dark green colour.
"It's a pleasure to make your acquaintance, Ms Baker", he said in a low voice.
She shivered. How did he know her name?
"I don't think we have been introduced, Mr…?"
"Mr Green", he replied.
How creative. Only Mr Brown could have been more clichéd.
The stranger seemed put off by her lack of reaction.
"You might have heard of me?", he probed.
After a moment, Mary did recognize him. She had seen a photo of him in a newspaper article just a weeks ago. He had stood in the background behind LexCorp's new Head of Security, an attractive young woman called Mercy Graves. The reporter had praised Lex Luthor for raising the quota of women in his company's top positions. Mary had commented dryly that there were still mostly men in that photograph.
She had read all reports about Luthor and his company quite attentively, ever since Batman's revelation about the Gorgon's Staff.
But why would a high-ranking official from LexCorps be interested in her?
Had they found out about her curse?
"I recall seeing your picture once", she replied cautiously.
He seemed satisfied. "Please don't be concerned, Ms Baker. I just wish to ask you a few questions."
She nodded in silence. How much did they already know?
"About your employer", he added.
"My employer?"
"Bruce Wayne", he clarified.
Mary tried hard to conceal her shock. Nobody was supposed to ever connect her to that name.
"I have no idea what you are talking about", she claimed.
The stranger shook his head sadly. "Such commendable loyalty, but quite misplaced, I fear. We know that you have been employed at the Wayne Residence for several months now."
"You are mistaken", she assured him.
He could not possibly know this. Batman had taken every possible precaution.
"It's quite useless to deny it, Ms Baker. We have been investigating Mr Wayne for a long while now."
So this was not about her curse? They were after Batman instead?
"What does that have to do with me?"
"You see, all we want is a bit of information. Just a few answers about Wayne Tech's current projects, a few details your employer so far neglected to share with us..."
Oh. He might not know anything, after all.
"He is not my employer."
The stranger chuckled, sending ripples through his fleshy chins. "Servants are always so observant. A good servant is rarely noticed, and yet they seem to notice everything themselves."
She had indeed overheard Bruce Wayne talk to Robin about some classified Wayne Tech projects twice over the past two weeks. He had seemed even busier than usual. She had left the room immediately on both occasions, but a few keywords had stuck to her memory. Not that she would ever share them with this mysterious Mr Green, of course.
"Thus we tracked his butler", the man continued.
"What?"
"A very small tracking device, implanted during his last hospital check-up. Just a little GPS-logger that allowed us to monitor his movement – to give us a chance to meet him, talk to him."
She shook her head in disbelief.
Why was he telling her that?
"Without that little tracker, we would never have known it was Alfred Pennyworth who dropped you off at the Gotham mall this very morning. He has been driving you around quite a lot in the past months, hasn't he? You went shopping for him, and picked up mail, taking over all those little tasks that would have been too strenuous for the poor old man still recovering from his injuries. That's how weknow you work for Mr Wayne, Ms Baker. Please do stop trying to lie to me..."
She swallowed hard.
"Impressive", she stated. "What do you want from me, Mr Green?"
"As I said – just some information."
At least this was not about Batman.
Not yet. Her heart beat faster at the thought of how easily they could have noticed.
She had met Black Canary in public. She was supposed to enter the League's service openly, soon. Without a mask.
Well, that plan was off now.
If there was any known connection between Mary Baker and Bruce Wayne or Richard Grayson, she could never ever be publicly seen with Batman or Robin.
"I am sorry, Mr Green, but I don't think I know anything that would be of interest to you. I am only doing household work at the manor."
What should she do if he threatened her? Under the given circumstances, she could not even turn into stone to save herself.
It would raise too many questions.
"Please do reconsider, Ms Baker. Maybe I can provide you with a little incentive. You see, in return for providing us with a few small details about your employer, my employer is willing to grant you a wish." He smiled, baring his gleaming white teeth. "The magnitude of said wish would of course depend on the quality of the information..."
Lex Luthor would offer her a wish.
In return for betraying Bruce Wayne – and Batman.
Please, would you let me use the Gorgon's Staff to lift a curse that has been placed upon me by the very same artefact in 1942, before it was disabled? I was discovered and woken by the Justice League this January, and then Bruce Wayne offered me a job for no apparent reason, without even contacting the media to get some publicity out of it, and he tried to keep my whole identity a secret, but that's not suspicious, isn't it? No, of course he has no relations to the Justice League at all!
She almost laughed about the irony of it all.
"I'm sorry, Mr Green, and I am quite flattered by your proposition, but I really don't know anything of that sort."
His fake smile faded. He reached into his coat.
"In that case, Ms Baker, you are quite useless to us."
He pulled out his gun.
Mary froze.
"This is your last chance to reconsider", he stated.
Just like that? No taking her with him to some old abandoned warehouse, trying to pry details from her by force, gloating about her hopeless situation? Wasn't that what a villain was supposed to do?
Alfred would come looking for her within the next fifteen minutes. She was still wearing her wrist band tracker. It would have been laughably easy for Batman and Robin to come and save her, if he had tried to kidnap her.
But not if he simply shot her on this park bench.
Mr Green adjusted his hold on the gun subtly, pointing it straight at her heart.
"I reconsider", she squealed.
She had no way to contact them, he would shoot her if she tried to even touch her phone. Taking off the wrist band might trigger the alert to Batman and Robin, but reaching for it now would seem suspicious. She cursed herself for not thinking of this sooner. For not thinking of asking for an emergency alert button when Robin had first designed the watch for her.
"Talk", the bulky man ordered.
"I have information! A lot of information!"
She needed an explanation. A good one, if she ever was to walk out of this.
"Talk", he repeated.
"But I really can't tell you, I can't!"
She did not have to feign being terrified.
"I don't think you have much of a choice, Ms Baker."
His dark green eyes were hard and unyielding.
"You don't understand." Her voice trembled. "I can't betray him!"
He slowly released the gun's safety.
"I can't", she sobbed. "Please, shoot me, kill me, but don't make me betray him."
He paused. "What?"
"You don't know what he would do to me! Please, shoot me, it would be a mercy..."
She was crying earnestly now.
"Bruce Wayne's wrath would be worse than dying?"
A hysterical laughter escaped her. "I'm not working for Wayne!"
His face was only inches from hers now, the gun's cold metal pressed into her chest.
"Explain", he growled.
"I'm working for Ra's al Ghul", she burst out. "The master of the League of Shadows!"
His eyes widened in shock.
"I've been spying on Wayne", she wept. "But I can't tell Luthor too, he would tear me apart, he would..."
She grabbed hold of his coat, staring at him with huge, pleading eyes. "Al Ghul's Shadows work with a Chaos Mage now. He is nefarious. He enjoys making us suffer. He would just love the chance to..."
Mary gasped, pushing Mr Greene away again, shielding her face with both arms.
"No!", she shrieked. "No, don't, please, please, I didn't, no, oh please, no!"
With a look of pure horror on her face, she scrambled backwards off the park bench, crumbling into a heap by its side.
When Mr Green probed her fallen body with his foot, it met not flesh but stone.