Outlawed
Chapter One: Like Old Times
Author's Note: After revising both TWSUWF and Invaded, I was finally able to revise Outlawed and republish it. If you haven't read TWSUWF or Invaded, I suggest you read those before you read this to be better acquainted with Phoenix, other OCs, and the affair of things.
I hope you enjoy it and please leave a review.
2.5 Years Later
Gotham
December 13, 2018
10:48 AM EST
Dick Grayson shoved his fists into his leather jacket's pocket as the hospital elevator slowly creaked open. Although his mind was drifting elsewhere, his body was familiar with the hospital layout enough to blindly direct him to his destination. Within minutes, he was brushing past two armed guards and sitting at the edge of Barbara Gordon's hospital bed.
Dick had made it a priority to visit Barbara at least once a week since the incident occured. It had been almost three months and already she was showing premature signs of recovery.
Each time Dick found himself in Gotham General, surrounded by the injured masses of that fateful night.
It had been roughly two years since the UN declared all hero and vigilante activity illegal. Batman and a few others had managed to remain active, avoiding the wrath of the entire world's militaries combined forces. Batman had been at the forefront of the resistance movement, secretly leading small squads of heroes in a series of reconnaissance missions. By the time the incident occured, most of his heavy hitters had either gone underground or had been arrested.
Most of Phoenix's intel from two and a half years prior had been accurate. The UN wanted to register all heroes and vigilantes—at least, that's what they told the world. Even the ones who had surrendered peacefully early on had been unheard of except for Captain Atom. Surprisingly, he had been the first to surrender, citing it as his duty to his country. Superman was next to surrender, turning himself in on the very last day before the UN promised to take action against those who resisted arrest.
This caused a major rift between those remaining. Some sided with Superman, who's only explanation was that they must face justice the correct way to clear their names. Batman obviously opposed this—he's never been the type to leave his fate at the hands of others. For the past two years, he and a small remaining group of heroes worked on acquiring evidence and clearing their names. Those who didn't side with either simple went into hiding, living in plain sight under new identities.
Then the incident happened. Well, to be technical, a series of incidents happened. First, the UN passed an international law stating all those who resist will be killed on sight by their contingency group known as Task Force X, who were really the Red Lotus in disguise. The villains of the world had gone on devastating rampages and the government didn't want to be bothered with trying to arrest all of them. The first victim of this senseless law was Cupid, who was attempting to bring Star City to its knees to smoke out Green Arrow.
During the intense power struggle, Green Arrow sustained a massive injury to his arm. The Huntress and Captain Marvel ended up sacrificing themselves to allow for Green Arrow, Black Canary, and Hunter to escape. In the end, Cupid was executed on Star City's iconic bridge by Task Force X, Green Arrow's right arm was amputated, and Black Canary miscaraged. After that fateful day, the two were understandably out of the game.
Hunter relocated to Gotham to help Batman after the Clown Prince of Crime went on a murderous rampage. Half of Gotham was up in flames while the other half was dosed in Joker Venom. A final three way showdown between the Joker, Task Force X, and Batman had left all parties amassing critical damage and Ace Chemicals in ruins after a series of deadly explosions.
Batman, Robin, Plastic Man, and Black Lightning had been captured to ensure the escape of a severely injured Batgirl, Nightwing, Hunter, and Impulse. It was unknown if the Joker had escaped a fiery death, but since then, there had been no confirmed sights of the Clown Prince of Crime.
Nightwing had been tasked with the daunting responsibility of destroying any remaining files Batman had on the identities of those Task Force X had been unsuccessful in capturing. This meant destroying the Batcave and Wayne Manor. It was during all of this that Luthor was elected as president of the United States with a huge wave of human-sentiment.
"Hey there, stranger," Barbara's voice cooed, drawing Dick out of his spiraling thoughts.
"Hi, how are you feeling?" Dick asked, rising from his seat to adjust the pillow behind Barbara's head. With a groan, Barbara pushed herself into an upright position.
"Better than yesterday," Barbara answered, swatting Dick's hands away from the pillow.
Although that had been Barbara's standard answer since her second back surgery, Dick found some comfort in the thought of Barbara's health improving daily.
"Any updates on your project?" Barbara questioned slyly. Since Batman's capture (and the definite compromise of their identities), Dick had managed to reach Zatanna to ask for a glamor charm. Since then, anytime Dick came to visit Barbara he was technically Kyle Whitmore, sophomore at Gotham University. They spoke in a discrete code to avoid suspicion.
"No," Dick answered with a sigh, "I'm stuck."
Barbara hummed, tilting her head back to gaze at the ceiling. "Me and you both," she whispered.
Dick's entire demeanor soured; Barbara's injuries thankfully had not been life claiming, but instead left her paralyzed from the waist down. After arriving at the hospital (after Nightwing had expertly removed her Batgirl armor and replaced it with civilian clothes), Barbara had undergone one emergency back surgery and another routine surgery. The doctors were hopeful she would eventually make a full recovery with one more round of surgery and rehabilitation.
"How are your friends? Everyone doing okay?" Barbara asked, immediately shifting the room's tone.
"As okay as can be," Dick sighed. They fell into a comfortable silence filled only by the various beeps of machines throughout the private room.
"Have you checked up on your old friends, the one from high school maybe?" Barbara suddenly asked.
"My old friends?" Dick furrowed his brow before his face faltered as he realized what Barbara meant.
"Absolutely not," Dick frowned.
"You've got to try," Barbara argued, glaring.
"I already know what she's going to say," Dick explained.
"Maybe," Barbara drawled out the word, "but maybe you'll light the spark in other people."
Queen Manor, Star City
December 14
08:23 PM PDT
Dick had always found the familiar mansion welcoming, a great contrast from Wayne Manor. Even now, as Dick trudged up the driveway, he couldn't help but admire the beautifully kept array of flowers that were expertely planted in front of the mansion.
The large front doors opened just as Dick climbed the last front step. A heavily bearded Oliver Queen greeted him, ushering him inside. Once they were safely within the confines of Queen Manor, Dick removed his glamour charm, which Zatanna had expertly disguised as a wrist watch.
"Not that I'm not glad to see you," Oliver paused, gesturing for Dick to follow him up the grand stairs, "but what brings you here?"
As they entered Oliver's home office, Dick answered, "I wanted to ask you a few things."
Oliver glanced at the former Boy Wonder before fiddling with something under his giant desk. Behind him, the bookshelf groaned before swinging open. Oliver asked, "Ask me something or Green Arrow?"
Within minutes, they were sitting across from each other at a long conference table deep under Queen Manor. Oliver had brewed coffee and served Dick some well baked cookies.
"How are you and Dinah doing?" Dick asked, swallowing a large gulp of coffee.
"We're… managing," Oliver answered truthfully, gazing down at his missing appendage. Dick took this opportunity to gaze around the Quiver, noticing the lack of dust and the computer screen that remained lit.
"Have you spoken to anyone?" Dick persisted, careful with his words.
"Just my kids," Oliver admitted, "Jim is still working at Cadmus. Will drops by once a week with Lian. Roy doesn't visit for obvious reasons, but after my accident…" Oliver trailed off, again gazing down at his missing appendage.
"We bonded," Oliver chuckled dryly, adding, "Artemis and Ashley visit anytime they can, especially after what happened."
Dick nodded, taking another sip of his coffee. Although Green Arrow was out of the game, Oliver Queen wasn't. Queen Industries has moved to the forefront of bio-technological advances and has been vocal about their support against the Hero Registration Act. There was even talk of Oliver Queen running for mayor of Star City.
"You're not here to catch up, are you Dick?"
"No," Dick admitted, lowering the mug from his lips. He placed it on the table, staring at the archer somberly.
"Well," Oliver sighed before motioning for a holographic screen. Within seconds, pictures of Green Arrow's known associates were on full display.
"Since Jade jumped ship, Lian only has Will. He won't help unless you really need him to, so I ask that you don't involve him unless it's really necessary. Roy's been traveling with the Runaways, so you'll need to figure out how to contact him without compromising anyone's location," Oliver explained.
"What about Artemis... and Ashley?" Dick's tone was careful. Although Oliver had always been levelheaded and reasonable, Dick knew what he was asking of the former hero. This war against the Justice League had been dangerous and everyone had sacrificed something to ensure their winning outcome. Oliver had lost his arm and Dinah had lost their child. And now here Dick was, asking him for more in the form of his two daughters.
Oliver sighed, dragging a hand over his tired face. There was a brief moment of silence in which Dick debated whether or not to apologize and leave or remain seated.
"Artemis… Artemis won't need much convincing. She's been craving for some sort of release. Ashley, though… it's going to be really hard to convince her. It's been almost three years since I've even seen her use her powers. She doesn't even come down here," Oliver revealed before continuing, "Anyone else who went underground can be found in these files Batman sent over before his arrest. It's encrypted, but I'm sure you can figure it out."
The two men found themselves deep in conversation that was interrupted by the noise of the service elevator door opening.
Dinah, wearing wrinkled pajamas and an even wrinklier robe, slowly exited the service elevator. Walking beside her was an older blonde, contrastingly wearing neatly ironed clothes.
"Dick," Dinah said, surprised.
"Dinah, hey. How are you?" Dick rose, greeting the former hero in an embrace.
Dinah returned the hug, pulling away only to introduce the older lady beside them. "Dick, you remember my mom?"
If it had been under any other occasion than Kid Flash's memorial, Dick would've been ecstatic to meet the first Black Canary. From what Ashley mentioned, she was a very intelligent woman with dozens of stories to tell.
"Yes, Miss Drake-Lance, it's so nice to see you again," Dick said as he extended his hand for a handshake. The older women embraced him in a hug, sighing loudly before pulling away.
"What brings you to Star City?" Dinah asked, crossing her arms over her wrinkly pajamas.
Dick sputtered, glancing at Oliver for assistance.
"He's here to recruit people to help him," Oliver answered, rising from his seat.
"We're out the game," the younger Canary stated.
"Something tells me he's not here for us old timers," the older Canary chuckled.
Dinah glared at Dick, "Don't tell me you're here for Artemis and Ashley?"
Dick nodded, elaborating, "After Batman was arrested, our numbers took a serious hit. We need some powerhouses or we're going to lose this war."
"We've already lost, Dick," Dinah countered.
The older Dinah quickly interjected, "You have to forgive my daughter. She's lost her damn mind. Dinah, you know better. You know that so long as there is one person still fighting, there's still a chance."
The younger Canary remained silent, brooding beside her mother. It was almost a mirror image of Ashley and Dinah.
"Well," the older Canary continued, "I'm no help to you on the field, but I'm still valuable. I'll round up some of my old connections, see what they can offer too. As for my granddaughters… I know Artemis will be more than happy to help, but she might not join you unless Ashley does."
Dick found it touching that Ashley's grandmother considered Artemis' her grandchild too. "I know. Ashley hasn't been the same since Wally… none of us have."
It was true—after Kid Flash's memorial, to the knowledge of the world, Phoenix was simply gone. There were rumors that she had met the same fate as Kid Flash during the Reach's endgame or that she had turned herself in to the government's task force. Phoenix's untimely disappearance hurt Star City's citizens deeply, especially during Black Canary and Green Arrow's gruesome final battle. Star City had always loved the Arrow family's unity—hell, even Dick admired them for it.
"Dick, what you're doing—it isn't like breaking into Cadmus. It's not just the Light that you're up against, it's the entire world. You could die," Dinah warned.
"I know," Dick repeated, "but I have to try."
Palo Alto
December 15
09:23 AM PDT
After Wally's death, Ashley had enrolled in Stanford and, with Harmony, moved into the apartment he shared with Artemis. Artemis had taken it upon herself to constantly update Dick about Ashley's grieving process. Dick figured it gave Artemis something to busy herself with than to think about the current affair of things.
When Ashley had first moved in, she slept religiously on the couch. Sometimes Harmony slept on the adjacent couch or in Artemis' room. There were some nights where Harmony would wake up and notice that Ashley was paralyzed from a nightmare. Ashley would flee the apartment and eventually Artemis would find her brooding on the roof. After about six months, Ashley worked enough courage to enter Wally's room.
Artemis watched Ashley slowly walk around the room, careful not to disturb anything. After about fifteen minutes of this, Ashley simply walked out of his bedroom and threw up in the bathroom. Sometime close to Wally's year anniversary, Artemis found Ashley sleeping on his bed. Although she still struggled with the nightmares, Artemis noted that Ashley had finally begun to assimilate into normalcy. Ashley had begun to make friends, go out, Artemis even hypothesized that Ashley had begun to feel some sort of happiness again.
It was sometime between the first and second year anniversary of Wally's passing that Harmony Ashley had begun fighting. Eventually, without a word, Harmony had moved out.
After two years since Wally's passing, Artemis had stopped updating Dick about Ashley's grieving process. Dick figured Ashley had finally healed and perhaps even was truly happy.
Dick hated himself in this moment as he sat at the island in the small kitchen watching Artemis pour herself a cup of coffee.
"How's Babs?" Artemis questioned, stirring sugar into her cup.
"Recovering," Dick answered, "The doctors think she'll walk again."
Artemis smiled, nodding before taking a sip. She lowered the mug slowly, glancing at the closed bedroom door.
"She's doing good, Dick," Artemis whispered. It was odd for Dick to see Artemis take on a… motherly role. Although Ashley and Artemis had always been close, Ashley was always the maternal one.
"I wouldn't come unless it was necessary," Dick promised.
"How bad is it since Batman was arrested?" Artemis questioned.
"It's just me, Hunter, Beast Boy, Bumblebee, Guardian, and Impulse. Alfred's been taking care of Babs and Wayne Enterprises," Dick explained.
Artemis sighed, dragging her hand over her tired face. Although she never once doubted any of the mentioned names' abilities, Artemis knew they weren't enough. A lot of their heavy hitters were either in hiding or captured.
"I can't just leave her," Artemis said, lowering her voice, "What if… what if she falls apart again?"
"Artemis, I'm not just here for you," Dick clarified, "I'm here for Ashley, too."
"Then you've wasted your time because I'm not going," Ashley stated firmly.
Dick turned from his seat at the kitchen island, noticing Ashley standing at the threshold of what used to be Wally's room. Ashley stood, arms folded, glaring at the former Boy Wonder.
Dick noticed she still kept her toned build, although she had lost a noticeable amount of muscle weight as she slowly approached the two.
"What do you mean you're not going?" Dick glared. Dick had prepared a moving speech that he had rehearsed his entire drive here yet now that Ashley was standing in front of him, he had seemingly forgotten the entire thing.
"I am not going," Ashley stated slowly.
"Why not?" Dick persisted.
"When I said I was retiring, I meant forever," Ashley retorted, adding, "It's not something you can change my mind on. I don't want to help you."
"Why not?" Dick repeated, roughly.
Ashley glared, "This isn't something worth dying over."
"Wally seemed to think it was," Dick quipped. Within seconds, Ashley had crossed the small space between them and slapped him. Dick knew it was a low blow, but it was worth a shot.
"Ashley!" Artemis scowled.
"Wally did not go out into the Arctic with the intentions of dying," Ashley seethed.
"No, but he knew the risks. He was willing to do whatever means necessary for the greater good," Dick argued.
Ashley's frown deepened as she muttered, "You sound like Batman."
"Ash, I know that you've sacrificed a lot—even before Wally disappeared into the unknown, but I need your help," Dick said.
Ashley remained silent; Dick took this as a sign to continue.
"Amanda Waller was helping Batman from the inside before he was captured. She's been radio silent since because she's lost hope. If we can reignite that hope again, and get her to help us, we can win this war," Dick explained.
Ashley sighed loudly, shaking her head, "There is no more hope. We've already lost."
Dick's anger surged again. "Where is Ashley that helped take down the Reach? That helped take down the Light? The Ashley that broke into Cadmus with me? The one willing to make countless sacrifices—"
"That was Phoenix and Phoenix is dead!" Ashley cried, "What do you know about sacrifices? Ollie lost his arm! Dinah lost their child! I lost Wally!"
"You want to talk about sacrifices? Let's talk about sacrifices! You didn't just lose Wally— we all did! While you were here, hiding from the world, I was out there! I watched my friends and family get taken away from me! I never gave up, not once!" Dick shouted. Sometime during his outburst, he had risen from his seat and crossed the space between them.
From this proximity, Dick could see the tears threatening to spill from Ashley's eyes, the hurt poorly hidden behind the angry glare, the way her lips twitched as she swallowed a sob. Dick realized that Ashley wasn't healed or happy—she was simply content with living a lie.
"Dick, Ash," Artemis stated, pushing the two away from each other. Artemis stared at Ashley, asking, "A majority of our friends are locked up, if they're even still alive. Why don't you want to save them?"
Ashley glared at Artemis now. "I want them saved, but you can do it without me. I'm tired of losing friends, family, hope, the will to live. I didn't just lose Wally—I lost a part of myself, a part of my future. I finally built a future worth living in… please don't take that away from me."
Dick scoffed, "You really think a future where all of our friends are locked up or dead is a future worth living in? Hunter was right. You were never a hero. You're just a selfish bitch."
Washington, D.C.
December 16
10:29 PM EST
Amanda Waller's frown deepened as she scrolled through her email. Eventually, she found herself thumbing through the various prisoner files and the accompanying cell footage. Although technically she was head of the United Nations Security-Council, she was denied knowledge of the location of the prisoners for supposed safety reasons.
Waller glanced at the footage, attempting to stomach through to save face from the watching eyes of Luthor and Vandal Savage.
Superman's limp body remained bound to the wall with heavy metal chains. From what Waller could make out, his cell was barron except for the lone kryptonian crystal that tangled from above. Flash lay sprawled on the floor, twitching every few seconds. His quick healing abilities made him an easy target for the guards. Red Tornado's dismembered body was strewn across his small cell. Waller could never tell if he was online or not.
Captain Marvel was always the last footage Waller saw before she closed the live feed. After Huntress and he surrendered in Star City, he had transformed into his civilian counterpart in hopes that they placed him in a youths detention center. Checkmate simply guaranteed his silence and threw him in a cell.
At times, Waller wondered if Captain Atom knew of the horrors and atrocities that his former League teammates were suffering at the hands of Checkmate. The brutal beatings by the guards, the starvation, the humiliation, the disgusting state of the facilities. Although Waller had always been a fan for contingencies should the League ever go rogue, she found their current punishments inhumane and heinous.
From her many years working with Batman, her gut told her there was something incredibly wrong about the Bialya incident. Waller would like to think that's why she continued to feed Batman information until his untimely capture. After she watched Gotham almost fall to its knees and Batman being hauled in, Waller lost all hope.
"Amanda Waller."
Amanda Waller jerked back, nearly falling out of her chair as Nightwing and Artemis stood in front of her desk. The ventilation shaft above remained open, swinging slightly from their impromptu entrance.
Before Waller could reach for the panic button hidden underneath her desk, Nightwing revealed, "Security cameras have been put on loop. I know you were Batman's inside leak and now you're going to be mine."
Waller stood to her full height, dusting her pants and smoothing her shirt. She glared at the two heroes, "And why would I do that?"
"Because I know you don't believe the Justice League was responsible for the attack on Bialya," Nightwing answered.
There was a brief pause before Waller replied, "I don't know where they keep them detained. I just know that there's three facilities: one for humans, metas, and aliens."
Nightwing closed Waller's laptop before opening the backpiece. Toying with the visible harddrive, Nightwing easily removed a series of tracking devices. Although she wouldn't show it, Waller was nothing short of impressed—he was the first son of Batman afterall.
"You're the head of Checkmate. You're at all the UN Security-Council meetings and you have no idea where they're being held?" Artemis challenged, folding her arms over her chest.
"Only a few people know the actual location. Even the people who work at the facilities don't know. They're blindfolded and picked up for their shifts. Something about national security and avoiding a jailbreak," Waller retorted.
"We'll handle finding them and breaking them out. You just keep funneling us information and keeping them off our trail," Nightwing explained, tucking the laptop under his arm.
"A lot of the League's heavy hitters are either in custody, off world, or in hiding. What makes you think you two can accomplish what Batman couldn't?" Waller questioned.
Nightwing smirked, "We have a tendency of doing that."
Artemis nodded, adding, "It's kind of what we do."
Waller frowned, "Who exactly is 'we'? To Checkpoint's knowledge, your rebel team only consists of Hunter, Beast Boy, Bumblebee, Guardian, and Impulse."
"Like you said," Artemis quickly said, "That's only to Checkpoint's knowledge. We've been rounding people up."
Waller glared at the blonde. "People like whom?"
"Phoenix, Blue Beetle, Doctor Fate, Green and Red Arrow. Black Canary. We even got some of the members of the Justice Society to help. That's just naming a few." Nightwing lied easily, "The Lanterns are on board. We have the full support of Atlantis and Themyscira."
Waller's glare intensified; she was never one to call Batman's bluff. If Nightwing was bluffing, they had made it this far. Some part of his bluff had to be true and that was enough for Amanda Waller.
"Fine," Waller sighed, sitting in her chair. "Batman issued me a modified League communication device. Does that work for you?"
Nightwing broke out into an easy smile, nodding, "Works perfect. Anything else we should know?"
Waller hesitated, mulling over her thoughts before answering, "NASA and Checkpoint have been collaborating in tracking an incoming meteorite. It's due to land in Star City Harbor in about 41 hours. Get to it before we do."