The Butler's Apprentice – Part 5
Robin reached the park bench beneath the lilac bushes exactly twelve minutes after the petrification alert had been triggered.
Of course Batman was already waiting for him.
How did he always do that? Batman had been supposed to work on a case by the harbours today!
Mary's statue lay on the muddy ground beneath the taller of the two bushes. Her eyes were shut tightly, her face frozen in a strange grimace. She looked terrified.
"What happened?" he asked.
"You tell me."
He glanced up at his mentor. Batman replied with a small gesture towards the fallen body.
This mystery was his to solve.
Robin took a deep breath. Alright, time to shine.
First step: Perimeter check. Any enemies still around?
The bench offered a good view all across the park's open area. It was almost deserted. Only one warmly-dressed figure was walking a small black dog in the distance, not paying them any attention.
Behind the two lilac bushes, an old stone statue of some long-forgotten general marked the end of the park. In a gun fight, it would provide solid cover. There were no large trees or high buildings around, only a meagre hawthorn hedge bordering a well-lit one-way street which never knew much traffic. On its other side stood the maintenance depot of the Gotham firefighters, a solid brick building with an excellent security system. The building's steep roof would offer no vantage point for snipers or other potential assassins.
There was a reason why Batman had chosen this spot as a meeting point.
All clear.
Robin turned his attention back towards the crime scene. Mary had apparently fallen backwards from the park bench. Her arms were raised, covering her head instead of bracing her from the impact.
He checked her hands. On the left one, all fingers were raised. Thumb, index finger and the little finger were each pointing slightly outwards, ring and middle finger were held closely together. He had called it the 'Inverse Spock' position. It meant she had triggered the spell to protect herself. If she had only been experimenting, the ring and middle finger would have been apart instead.
On the right hand, only her index finger was stretched out, while her thumb pointed upwards. This sign had been easy to memorize. A gun - or any other kind of projectile weapon.
Was it just fear that had distorted her facial expression, or agony?
Robin quickly examined the front of her clothes, hoping desperately to find them all intact. If she had been too slow...
No bullet holes.
Don't panic, he reminded himself. If she had been in need of medical attention, her left hand would have been closed to a fist. They had developed a rather extensive set of code signs.
"Someone threatened her with a gun, but didn't shoot her", he summarized aloud.
What else did her posture tell him?
Both of her feet were closed around one of the metal legs of the park bench. She had been worried that someone might try to carry her off. Several attackers? Someone with superhuman strength? Well, it could also have been any random goon whom she suspected to have a strong colleague and a handy truck nearby… This was Gotham, after all.
There was still money in her wallet. Batman must have arrived very early indeed. How had he done that?
Maybe he was cheating. Using magic or something. He had been working with Zatara for many years, after all...
Robin scanned his surroundings once more. The dog walker had left the park, there was nobody else in sight.
He shot a questioning look at Batman. His masked mentor remained motionless. This was his own decision.
Robin bowed down towards Mary.
"Alivio", he whispered in her ear.
Mary whimpered when she woke up. A soft, heartbreaking whine, like the sound a scared animal might make. She did not even bother standing up, only gathering her limbs into a huddled, crouching position on the ground.
"What happened?", he asked.
She winced at the sound of his voice, but finally raised her head. Her eyes were still red, although the tears on her face had dried since the initial transformation. He reached into his tool belt for a clean paper tissue anyway.
Mary hardly looked at him, but instantly focussed on the figure behind him.
"Batman!", she exclaimed, before finally meeting his eyes. "Then you must be Robin?"
Ah. She expected to be watched.
He donned his broadest smile. "The very same, at your service! Don't worry, you are quite save with us now. There's no one else around."
Surely she would get the hint.
"There was this man… He pointed a gun at me! And he was talking about secrets and favours and implanted tracking devices..." She accepted the tissue and cleared her nose noisily.
Robin glanced back at Batman. His mentor's vastly superior tool belt held an exquisite selection of scanning devices. Robin remembered asking when he would finally get his own full set.
'Hopefully never', Batman had replied.
By now, he had an irking that if he was ever caught with it, some of Batman's tech would get him into serious trouble with the Green Lantern Corps.
Batman made a show of scrutinizing Mary and her surroundings carefully.
"You're clear", he finally announced.
No doubt he had already performed the serious scans before Robin's arrival.
"Are you all right, though?", Robin asked.
She nodded tentatively.
"Very good. In that case, why don't you tell us the full story somewhere a bit more comfortable? Come on, I'm sure you want to get out of here..."
Five minutes later, Robin unlocked an unnumbered door in the basement of one of Gotham's oldest office buildings. The room behind it held five cushioned chairs, a white desk with a cheap desktop computer, and a rather expensive coffee machine. Its back wall was entirely taken up by an impressive filing cabinet, which Batman claimed to have inherited from the law firm that had rented the office before he bought them out. It held about two hundred binders, each of them labelled 'Terms and conditions' in bold black print.
As if Batman alone was not intimidating enough.
Robin quickly checked the hidden security system. Nobody had entered the basement since they had last used it several months ago.
The room was rather dusty.
He pulled the door close behind them. "Here we go, Mary, you can speak freely now."
"Are you sure?"
"You're not bugged. I mean, there are no hidden cameras or microphones around. Batman checked."
He could see the tension drain out of her body. She sat down heavily on the closest chair.
Robin took the seat beside her.
"You looked terrible when we found you. Are you okay?"
"Yes, I'm fine. Sorry about that. I didn't mean to worry you."
He looked at her incredulously. She seemed perfectly calm now – no sign of the whimpering girl he had woken up only minutes ago.
"I'll tell you what happened in a minute. But first – do you have another handkerchief?"
He handed her a fresh tissue. Alfred had been right, they did come in handy.
Mary discreetly covered her mouth with her left hand, then pulled something out with two fingers from her right. She placed it on the white paper carefully.
"I plucked this off his coat when he was threatening to shoot me", she explained.
On the tissue in front of him lay a short dark hair.
Robin stirred sugar cubes into his second cup of cappuccino.
"Just let me get this straight. You told a potential agent from LexCorps that you were spying on Bruce Wayne for Ra's al Ghul, to frame you petrification as punishment by the League of Shadows?"
She nodded demurely.
He couldn't help to be impressed.
Robin turned towards his mentor. "Is there anything we have to do about that right away?"
Surely Batman had not intended for him to deal with a case that involved a threat to their civilian identity. He would take over any second now.
"You tell me", Batman replied.
Wow. Okay.
"Well… Mary, you told that Mr Green that Klarion the Witch Boy was working with the Shadows, right?"
"To be honest, I didn't remember his name in time. I just called him 'a Chaos Mage'. Are there any others?"
He shuddered at the thought. "None in our lifetime, as far as we know. Now, Batman, do we have any information on what the Witch Boy has really been up to recently? Anything that could contradict her story?"
"Nothing contradictory, no."
Robin took a deep breath. Ra's al Ghul had been rather active in Gotham in the past months. Hardly anybody knew anything about the Witch Boy's actual powers. They might not be doomed after all.
Her excuse had been well chosen.
The entire rest of her story felt wrong, though.
"How did you say they connected you to Bruce Wayne at all?"
"By tracking Alfred. That Mr Green said they had implanted a tracking device at his last hospital visit. Some three-letter combination, I think there was a P?"
"GPS?"
She nodded.
"That means Global Positioning Service", he explained. "Yet it doesn't make sense. Not the technology, that is quite feasible, but it would have never gone unnoticed. Not at the mansion."
Alfred shouldn't even have made it back into the car without triggering a bug alert.
LexCorp claimed that they had monitored Alfred's movements for weeks. Was their entire security system corrupted?
Impossible. The mansion was protected by at least four independent sub-systems, each of them capable of detecting bugs, especially one that was supposedly transmitting a location signal. Nobody could have tricked them all, not even Lex Luthor.
Well, maybe by using Batman's own trackers?
No, there had to be at least one sub-system monitoring even their own technology within the house – Batman always knew exactly what Robin was up to.
None of it made any sense. Why would they track Alfred's movement, when they were after Wayne Tech's secrets? Why not just plant a bug on Bruce himself?
Quite an obvious question, now that he thought of it.
"It's probable that there never was any implant", he said aloud. "That Mr Green just needed an explanation of how he had found you, and this was one that he thought you would believe."
"In that case, how did he find me? How did they know I worked at the manor?"
If somebody had been closely observing their mansion, could they have noticed Mary by accident?
Not impossible, but very unlikely. The Wayne residence was designed to keep secrets. That was the manor's core function – a shiny facade to hide a darker truth. The entire estate had been laid out with this purpose. Large trees shielded most of the mansion from view, delicate voile curtains covered all of its windows. There were at least seven different tunnels allowing for secret entries and exits, one of which Mary had been instructed to use on her outings. Alfred had also occasionally driven her, but only about a dozen times in five months, always wearing sunglasses and a hat to shield his face, always leaving the mansion by tunnel and then picking up a inconspicuous city car at a nearby underground garage, a car with tinted windows which they had registered to a decoy name.
Mary was supposed to work for the Justice League one day. Nobody should be able to connect her to Bruce Wayne at all.
How had they done it?
How had they even known she would be waiting on that specific park bench? Alfred had been supposed to pick her up at the statue. How could they have known he would be delayed, without tracking him?
He realized he was getting caught up in the details. These questions were relevant, but he could ponder them later. Try to look at the bigger picture first: No matter what they had done, it could not have been easy.
Why would they go through any kind of trouble, just to assault a butler's assistant?
"Have any actual Wayne Tech employees been attacked in a similar way recently?", he asked his mentor.
Batman's face remained motionless. "No."
Robin frowned. This really didn't make sense. There must have been a thousand easier ways to gather information on Wayne Tech – if that was the true motive.
"This might not have been about industry espionage after all. The man who attacked you, Mary, did he actually mention LexCorp or Luthor by name?"
"No, I don't think so. He just asked me if I recognized him."
"Let's take a look at that photo you mentioned."
It took him less than a minute to pull up the right newspaper article on the old computer's screen. He zoomed into the photo, enlarging the faces of the LexCorp officials surrounding Mercy Graves. Mary pointed at a prominent figure standing right next to Lex Luthor himself. A tall, rather overweight man with a hat and striking green eyes, smiling straight into the camera.
"He does wear the LexCorp emblem on his suit in this picture", Robin mused. "We can run a DNA-test on that hair you brought us, once we're back in the cave. For now, let's see what else we can find out about the guy."
Not much, apparently. Mr Adolphus Green was employed as deputy executive assistant at LexCorp, appeared in several other company pictures, was a registered member at the most expensive golf club in Metropolis and sponsored a local craft beer brewery. He had studied law in Star City, started working at Queens Industries after receiving his diploma, then moved on to LexCorp five years ago. No scandals. No mysterious past. No juicy details.
"That doesn't sound like a man who'd just shoot someone in public", Mary commented on his summary.
"He'd have his people for that", Robin agreed.
He closed his eyes in exasperation. "None of this makes any sense!"
Why would a high ranking employee of LexCorp threaten a butler's assistant with a gun, in public, on the pretence to learn about a rival company's secret business plans?
If you don't know the motive, check the outcome.
What was the result of the encounter? Mary had turned to stone. Could that have been intended? Did they know about the spell and only wanted to trigger her transformation?
No, that could have been done by staging a simple accident, some physical danger – Mary would have had no reason to hide her petrification power if the name 'Bruce Wayne' had never been mentioned.
Could this still have to do with her spell though? Maybe some magician was behind all this, tracking her magic aura through Gotham or something, letting it lead him straight to the manor… That would at least explain how they had known she worked for Bruce.
But why invent this tale about industry espionage for LexCorp? How could they have known she would recognize Mr Greene from that picture? The guy was not that famous, after all.
"I'm sorry", Mary sighed. "It didn't even occur to me to question his story."
"No, please don't beat yourself up about that. I'm sure it sounded very convincing to you..."
He froze.
That was the only part that fit. It had all sounded convincing to Mary.
She had recognized the man as a LexCorp employee, remembering that newspaper article.
She had believed he could have tracked Alfred via an implanted sensor, not knowing any details about the mansion's security systems.
She had found it plausible that he'd question her about Bruce Wayne's secrets, because she did know his most well-kept one.
She had not doubted he would actually shoot her in public, regarding Lex Luthor as a villain, like most members of the Justice League.
Someone had known exactly how to tailor this story to fit Mary.
Someone who knew her very well.
How could they possibly have known all that about her?
How had they done it?
Robin suddenly experienced a very strong sense of deja vu.
'How had he done that?'
He had already thought that exact question several times today.
And Batman had been supposed to investigate a case at Gotham harbour that afternoon.
He looked at the photograph of 'Mr Green' once more.
"Mary, how tall was the man who attacked you?"
"Oh, I'm not sure. Taller than me. About the same size as Master Wayne, I think?"
Robin just nodded.
He slowly turned to face his mentor.
"When I run a DNA analysis on that hair, will I find that it's yours?"
"No", Batman replied calmly.
That threw him off balance, but only for a second.
"So you have replaced it with one of mine while we were talking?"
He could have sworn he saw the hint of a smile on his mentor's face.
"What are you talking about?", Mary interrupted.
"This was a test", Robin explained. "Do you know what contact lenses are? You can use them to make your eyes look green. Add a flexible latex mask and some padding under the coat…"
She stared first at him, then at Batman. Digesting the fact that it had been him who had pointed a gun at her just a few minutes ago, threatening to kill her.
Robin watched her intently, trying to discern her emotions.
Was she mad, sad or disappointed?
Mary took a deep breath.
"If this was all a test, have I passed?"
Batman regarded his two young protégés, his face as motionless as ever.
Plucked a hair off his coat? He had grown lax. Too used to wearing the cowl – it had been a while since he had last donned an actual face mask. Should have worn a wig, too.
Dick had taken too long to figure it out, the boy was still too trusting. He had also missed a couple of obvious questions. Of course, the test had never been intended for Dick at all.
He had to decide whether Mary was fit to work for the Justice League.
The other members were relying on him heavily when it came to their security. He had to be thorough.
The scene at the park had been carefully engineered. He had started setting out the bait months ago. For the past weeks, he had secretly fed her information about WayneTech's current projects, dropping hints to Dick whenever he knew her to be within earshot. To her credit, she had never stayed to eavesdrop. The character of Mr Green had been a spontaneous choice, easy to impersonate based on that photo she had studied so intently. He didn't even have to bother imitating his real voice, as she did not know what it sounded like. Arranging the time and place of their meeting had of course been perfectly straightforward.
As for the encounter itself, Bruce had anticipated several possible outcomes.
She could have just panicked. He had not deemed that likely.
She could have tried to swindle her way out of it. Make up some top secret project, pretend to cooperate, stall for time. Difficult, given her inept understanding of modern-day technology. Mr Green would have been very well informed of Wayne Tech's actual endeavours, and would have insisted on hearing the truth – at gun point, if need be.
She could have told him the few keywords she had overheard in the manor. Of course such leniency would have put an end to any plans of letting her work for the League. Her further treatment would have depended on the second phase.
Mr Green would not have been satisfied with just a few keywords. For a favour from Luthor, he would have demanded more details. He would have let her go to procure them.
If she confessed the entire episode truthfully straight upon her return, he would have considered letting her stay at the manor. Alfred really could use her assistance. They would have known her limits, and could have accommodated accordingly. No secrets mentioned around her, no contact with the League ever again. Basically, it would have meant they'd never let her out of sight again. If she chose to stay.
If she had actually attempted spying on him, or if she had shown any sign of betraying his real secret – his identity – she would have failed the test entirely. That would have forced him to initiate Plan B. Alfred would surely have regretted loosing her.
She could have also just triggered the petrification instead. That, too, would have counted as risking to reveal his secret, as failing the test. Any uncommon occurrence connected to the name Bruce Wayne was to be avoided.
Of course he had already taken precautions. Wayne Tech's main research facility at Gotham had launched a major project in material sciences as soon as she first started working for him, with special regard to various rare substances' magical properties. Just a few weeks ago, he had made a big show of asking Diana's permission to scientifically examine her protective bracelets – which she had refused, of course, but it had created some publicity. Now if it did come to light that he was employing a young woman with the power to petrify herself, he would have an easy explanation at hand, branding her as a study case.
She did not know that, however.
She could have chosen the most extreme outcome…
"You didn't really expect her to take the bullet, did you?", Dick demanded to know.
Mary did not even flinch at the suggestion. Only the slight narrowing of her eyes betrayed that this was exactly what she feared. The girl had worked with the army after all.
"Did you consider that option?", he asked her bluntly.
For a second, there was absolute silence, as both he and Dick waited anxiously for her reply.
"No", she admitted. "I would have used the spell, even if I had not been able to come up with an explanation. There is a lot I would do to save someone's life, but I would not die for your secrets."
He nodded wordlessly.
"And right you are with that!", Dick piped up. "Come on, Bruce, you always say that everything's a test, and that the surest way to fail is by getting yourself killed!"
He nodded once more. "Robin is right, I did not intend for you to get shot to prove your worth."
The corners of his mouth curled up the slightest fraction of an inch. "However, I was interested to see how you'd avoid it."
Spying for Ra's al Ghul. She had taken him by surprise with that one. For a split second, he had seriously considered the potential repercussions – until he remembered that of course it was impossible. He had let J'onn and Diana both validate her real backstory before allowing her to enter the manor.
"She improvised pretty well", Dick remarked, turning his attention towards Mary. "Dragging the Shadows into it was a bit risky, though. We'll help you come up with some better excuses for next time. Actually, I suppose we should have done that months ago… Wait, is this what that story with Wonder Woman's bracelets was about?"
The kid was learning several valuable lessons today.
"Will there be a next time?", Mary asked.
His trust was not earned – or given – easily. Yet she had passed the test.
"Potentially", he conceded.
Mary smiled, relieved. Then her expression sobered. "What would it have been, if I had betrayed you? Another trip into the future, or a very long session with J'onn?"
Dick's eyes widened in shock. Yet what else had he expected?
"I would have let you choose between the two options", he replied truthfully.
"Thank you."
She did not reveal her preference. Smart.
There was another long moment of silence.
"Is the Gorgon's Staff really in Luthor's possession?" Mary inquired.
"What?", Dick cried out.
So she had followed his orders not to mention this particular detail.
"The artefact was destroyed by Doctor Fate, as Zatara first told you. It is irrevocably lost."
He was aware that he had lied to her face, leading her on in order to bait her with Luthor's 'wish', allowing her to cling to the false hope that her fertility could one day be restored.
And he had pointed a gun at her, less than an hour ago, although of course it hadn't been loaded.
There was probably no way around it...
"I'm sorry", he said.
By now, Dick was too shocked even to speak.
Mary tilted her head softly, graciously accepting his apology.
Batman chose to give her a moment to process the events and revelations. He made himself another cup of coffee. Black, no sugar. He had a reputation to uphold.
The steaming mug in hand, he returned to his seat opposite hers.
"Now, do you still want to work for us?", he asked.
Dick really needed to learn how to control his emotions. Or get a full-face mask.
Mary smiled at the boy reassuringly before locking eyes with Batman. "I do still want to work for you – and for the Justice League. But thank you for giving me a choice."
"You do have other options", he explained. "You could go to a school after all. We could find you a normal family to live with. Or help you get a job somewhere else, in catering or housekeeping, or a vocational training in any other profession you might choose. You could even return to England, if you wish."
Mary remained firm. "I have thought a lot about that, over the past few weeks and months. But I really do prefer to stay with you." She smiled cheekily. "Even considering recent events."
"Good." She would fit right in with the rest of them.
He stood up, beckoning at Dick to shut down the computer.
"Alfred will have some dinner ready for you at the manor. Robin, you should take her back by the southern route. I still have some business to attend to by the harbour tonight."
He was already at the door, when he turned back towards Mary once more.
"Tomorrow, you will get to know the Flash and his trainee. It's time we introduced you to the rest of the League."
Author's note:
Please let me know what you think of this and the previous chapter! Did I manage to make it a little bit exciting? Do you think Mary deserves to pass the test?
I hope you're not too disappointed that no real villains have made an appearance yet (beside the Dr'uk I invented in the first chapter, which are a bit generic and not actually part of DC canon). As it says in the introduction, this fic will mainly focus on times between (or in these early chapters: before) missions. My goal is to explore interesting characters, situations and plot ideas in a bit more detail than the cartoons allowed. There will be only a very few real action scenes, although I do hope you'll like the upcoming training exercises...