January 31st - 2014 - Gotham city

It wasn't as it turns out very difficult to get onto the rooftop of the Gotham police department. Apparently, Commissioner Gordon owed Quentin a favor from a joint investigation years ago. Still, this was really the only way I could think of to reach the batman without revealing too much, since it was common knowledge that the bat signal was set up specifically to call him here.

"I still can't believe you talked me into coming here"

"Oliver, if we waited until you were supposed to visit, our contact would have retired already, and we're going to need all the help we can get against the league."

"He's a myth."

"Trust me, he'll show."

It didn't take more than a few minutes before the flaring of a cape alerted me to his arrival. Oliver tensing but resisting the instinct to draw his bow, Diggle standing by the door ready to step in just in case. He seemed massive in real life, like a looming shadow imposing terror on anyone caught in its gaze.

"Long way from Starling City, vigilante" "If you think you can come here and operate like you normally do-" I quickly interrupted, the paranoid and hostile tone Batman usually takes to any would be hero he doesn't know or trust.

"Sorry, actually we're here for your help, an old acquaintance of yours is after a friend and her family, the League of Assassins, I understand you had several run-ins with them and in particular the daughters of Ras al Ghul."

"The Canary, I've been keeping an eye on their movements after they surfaced in Starling. Why do you think I would be able to help you against the league?"

"Simple, You're the Batman, you're one of the most capable martial artists in the world, on top of being a literal genius, if anyone can help put this to rest it's you. Plus, I'm sure you can have Nightwing protect Gotham, or is he still robin here?"

I did my best to seem harmless despite my stature, in truth I was slightly taller than Bruce and certainly stronger, but he'd kick my ass in no time flat through sheer skill and willpower alone. Hell, he'd probably beat Oliver due to not having met or tained with Talia yet. I didn't want to get into a rooftop rumble with the Batman either way since it would probably not end well, and we were up here on good faith with the commissioner.

Our conversation was cut short as an explosion followed by maniacal laughter was heard in the distance. I turned towards Oliver, and in that split second he'd vanished. So cool.

"Alright, so he's not a myth, but we're still left without knowing anything." Oliver seemed irritated by the gruff nature of the ever brooding vigilante of Gotham. I just tried to shrug it off as two Alpha's ruffling feathers, since I knew both were good people at heart. Besides, we had to get back to Starling, between the league and Slade I didn't fancy its chances long term right now.

"He'll let us know, don't worry, he'll find us, he always does. Oh! And before I forget, he probably already knows your identity, he makes a habit of that. If it comes down to it, I'm fairly certain I know who he is, but can't be too careful."

A few nights later we were back in Starling, the league had been unusually quiet, though there were some random burglaries near the Starling City Zoo on top of the missing snake. Slade on the other hand had been busy. First, Sebastian Blood had begun a disinformation campaign against Oliver's mother as part of a way to sabotage her election. Then Slade actually stepped in personally to run in Sebastian's place. Likely escalating things in response to my efforts to crush his plans.

I'd spent the last few nights upgrading security in the factory with reinforced steel doors and modifying the basement level with an elevator to stash Durendal. as I was tinkering with some equipment, I noticed a shadow move across the rooftop windows, now reinforced with steel framework to prevent forced entry. Setting down the wrench I'd been using to tighten up the mechanisms of the CNC machine I'd managed to fix up, I turned around to come face to face with Batman now here in Starling.

"I've been waiting for you, I was starting to think you were going to stay out of it as a favor to Talia or something." He continued staring at me, the cowl giving him a menacing look.

"Talia's sister Nyssa has been busy, she's setup somewhere close to glades I suspect, it's near both the waterfront and the zoo which I suspect is where they've been getting the snake venom." He just continued staring, I wasn't sure if he was waiting for me to say more or if he was just that imposing, but it certainly wasn't what I expected. Why couldn't it have been Adam West batman?

"Look Mr Batman, sir, I'll follow your lead on this but the league needs to be stopped, I know The Arrow can handle Slade, and well I really should stop talking, is that normal?"

"Let Mr Queen know that I'll deal with the league, and that he'll hear from me if I need him." With that, he ran outside and shot off into the night, firing the grappling gun and disappearing into the darkness. As I took all this in, the only thing on my mind was how Oliver would not be happy about being sidelined in his own city. Hopefully both Slade and Nyssa would be dealt with soon because I only had half a year to come up with a plan to deal with Eobard, who knows what the changes to the timeline would do to that whole mess.