Hey there fans! I apologize I haven't been posting as much as I should before. Been in a bit of a writing funk but I hope some longer (trying to go for 2500+ words every chapter now) does make up for it! R&R when you guys want/can!

Cheers,

- TFS

The shattering of glass was a welcome change over the calming sounds of rivers and birds in the background. Even though he had slipped away to deal with both League and personal business within one of his other hideouts the sounds of Gotham always brought him back. That was coupled with the sounds of gunfire echoing in the concert hall, and the evidence his stand in was at the heart of it all under his usual guise, it didn't take much for him to become what many a criminal feared once again.

His armored knee impacted into the ground and his cape fell loosely over his shoulders. He could hear men groaning around him but in front of him on the ground and was a man clutching his face. He shad a pistol trained on h—Wait, it was trained on the man on the ground. His focus shifted and there lying in a pool of growing blood was his aide in this time of need; Gregory Saunders. Beside him was a dark skinned woman, trying her best to keep calm while she kept Gregory alive.

His gaze fell on the man on the ground. The mask was half shattered and by the fearful look in his eye when he noticed him he knew exactly who he was. Good. He walked over, letting his calm, heel led steps do most of the work for him in instilling fear. When he brought the pistol up to fire he threw a batarang that soared from under his cape, knocking it aside. He scrambled after the weapon muttering something under his breath that he couldn't quite make out. The hostage he had seemed alright but she was mostly concerned with Gregory, using bits of clothing that some of the unconscious men had to staunch some of the bleeding.

"Keep pressure on his wounds," he called over his shoulder at her before looking to the gunman, finally seeing the half cracked A on his forehead. "I need some information."

When the gun was brought up again he slammed his heel down on it, twisting his heel. That earned a scream from him. He kicked the weapon aside and he grabbed his jacket, lifting him up in an arm.

"Like the new suit?" Batman growled. "Like you I upgraded."

Ever since he came back, he and Barbara had discussed on how to improve his suit both aesthetically and technically. It was decided to go fully armored, at least on the face, and update the sensors. The suit was bulked out with extra, but functional, padding. It gave him a more militarized look but that only added to his already intimidating stature. The Bat symbol that immortalized him shined in dark metal, acting both as a decorative and protective part of the costume that covered most of his chest and a portion of his abdomen.

"What brought you to Gotham again Anarky?" he snarled to him. "What do you and your men want here?"

"You've been gone for awhile," he managed to croak out, "My employers thought you scampered off."

"All of this to draw me out? A hostage situation?"

"The hostage situation. The attempts on your stand in's life. All had a purpose."

He slammed Anarky's back into the wall, caving it in from the weight of the blow. The criminal looked at him wide eyed and gripped at his arm.

"Who do you mean, Anarky? Talk!"

He could see Anarky's half grin, broken as it was, and a mad stare met his own helmed one but Batman could sense he was looking right at his eyes. "The Court will have its due Batman… the Court always has its due."

Batman grew tired of the riddle and slammed his armored forehead into Anarky's unprotected one. The villain went limp in his arms, still breathing, and he tossed him to the ground. He looked over at the woman who seemed more frightened of him then anything. He knelt down beside her and hesitantly he rested a gloved hand on her shoulder. Her bright eyes looked at him as if she finally came to from a dream. He then checked Gregory's vitals. He was alive, barely, but alive. He brought up a hand to his ear.

"Batman to Justice League, I need a med evac. Priority Alpha."

"Good to hear from you again, Bruce."

"Superman." Batman said, a wisp of a smile tugging at his covered lip. "Likewise. Have two targets for this evac. One of them is injured and the other was a victim of a kidnapping. J'onn should look her over."

"I'll send Lantern down to grab all three of you. We all could do some catching up."

"Understood Superman," he replied, trying not to answer him directly for the sake of the possible civilian. "See you in a bit."

The comm went quiet and he looked to the woman again. Her gaze was to Gregory's body. He recognized the guilt there, but he saw anger and sadness etched on her striking features as well. He remained knelt as he leveled his covered gaze with her face. "You did well. Not many would think that clearly, given the situation."

"Not my first situation of this kind." She replied in a quiet, tired tone.

He was silent for a time, trying to go through his personal files to figure out who she was. It was mostly how she reached a hand up to trace at something that wasn't there that helped him narrow it down. That and the fact his facial recognition software hard wired into the suit finally pinged. "…Vixen is what you call yourself in costume, correct?"

She stared at him wide eyed but she nodded, slowly. "I do."

"Then I'll have to ask you to come with us then."

He looked up as John Stewart, the Green Lantern, floated into the room on a platform manifested by the ring. He landed and offered a curt nod to Batman before eyeing over his attire. "New look?" he asked, managing a small smile.

He only shrugged. "It was time for a change. Get us to the Watchtower. He doesn't have much time."

"On it. Brace yourselves."

Batman crouched low and Vixen only looked at Gregory, even as her hand seemed to idly trace through his hair. Batman wasn't sure if it was a gesture of thanks, or a gesture of apology.

Gregory came to in pain. His eyes took the brunt of it from the bright light in the ceiling. After a few watery blinks his sight returned to normal. He managed to sit up, his arm flaring in pain while he held himself up to gather his wits. The sight on either side of him though helped him make partial sense from the madness that transpired, what he thought, was yesterday. To the right was the woman from the hostage situation, resting peacefully in a chair. Her lips were slightly parted and her hair tousled, giving her a rather cute look but it was the one to his left that forced him out of his bed.

To his left he looked upon the majesty of space. He could see the sun beyond the earth and he managed to make his way towards the glass, resting his good arm against it. The cold was a welcome contrast to his aching limb. He thought that he was in some sort of limbo as he thought amusedly there was an angel to one side and darkness the other. Gregory often saw himself to be a simple man but to see space like this, so close yet so far, he could not keep the smile off his face. He struggled to pull his pants on with a good arm but he managed. He just sat in the bed taking the view, on both sides, all in. He looked at the sleeping woman again and upon spotting his beaten up jacket he settled it on her frame.

She stirred a bit and her golden eyes stared right into him.

"Mornin'," he drawled with a small smile before looking over his shoulder, "well I think it's morning anyway."

"Morning yourself. You're…okay? You've been out a few days."

He figured there had to be some time period he was out. A one day recovery was a mad concept to him, but he lived in a time of superheroes, stranger things have no doubt happened. He rubbed a hand along his face and hair tiredly as he leveled his dark eyes on her.

"Trust me when I say I've had worse."

She nodded. "You and I both it seems. Take this necklace off for one moment and I'm in a hostage situation."

His eyes strayed down to the large necklace that hung around her neck, resting temptingly above her bust. He pulled his gaze away from the teasing view and looked at her again. Her lips were pulled in a smile as she seemed content to lounge there, a lioness in her own right he thought.

"See something you like, cowboy?"

He told himself not to be bold, so forward, but the words tumbled out of his mouth quicker then he realized it. "Reckon I do."

Her lips pulled into a larger, more predatory smile. She was about to retort when the door to the room hissed open. Standing there was a helmed man and after a few passes he realized it was in fact Batman in an updated suit. He admitted if he didn't knew where he was he would feel a bit more fearful, but seeing Batman he felt at ease. Knowing someone had you back out there did help and Batman, despite his initial distance, was the best man to have in his corner as shadowy now as it was.

"What's this spooky?" he asked while cracking a smirk. "All the new toys for you and none for me?"

He couldn't read the Bat's expression at all now and that was disconcerting. "I'd like a moment with him alone, Mari."

The woman nodded and slid to her feet, giving a yawn before she made her way from the room, still with his coat. He also swore she winked over her shoulder at him but he couldn't be sure the light was playing tricks on him surely. His eyes settled on Batman's armored frame who took Mari's place in the chair. He leaned forward in his seat, keeping the full helm on for now. He felt an unwanted chill pass along his spine as he stared at him.

"I reviewed the footage from when you intervened," he began, "you never mentioned you had issues from your service."

He scowled. He was that far gone during the assault? He rubbed at his temple idly as he closed his eyes. It was all a blur. He remembered yelling. He recalled hearing Mari speak to him, and Batman crashing through the window before giving in to unconsciousness entirely. The rest was too much of a fog to make sense.

"How bad?" he asked in a quiet tone

Batman was silent for a moment. "Bad enough to say that you may need help soon."

"Coming from a man who dresses up as a Bat?" he snapped, harsher then he intended, "I'm takin' that opinion with a pound of salt, not a grain."

"I'm just concerned. What you did for me was admirable, and not many could fill my shoes, but my enemies knew that you weren't me standing in there. That's why they tried so hard to kill you. Force me out of hiding."

His eyes did a pass along his frame. "You're not hiding anymore though, are you?"

"No." he answered, with that same conviction Gregory heard the first time they met. "No more hiding. Anarky's words over who employed him though have concerned me, frightened me, almost with how heavy they were."

With that candid bit of information his brow lofted. "Care to enlighten me, spooky? You don't rub off to me as the sort to get all frightened like."

"Anarky said that the Court will have its due." He was silent for a moment, bringing both gauntlets under his chin. "I only know of one Court that sees any debts and they are but a fairytale at least I thought they were."

He couldn't see the expression beneath the full helm, but from the tone he could almost imagine the grimace on his lip. Batman's helm turned fully to him and with a metallic sigh a portion of his helm slid back so Gregory could see the lower half of his face. His lips were indeed pulled in a grimace but there was anger in that as well.

"They are known as the Court of Owls," he explained, "they're nearly as old as Gotham itself. I always believed their existence to be rumors but if they have the capacity to hire Anarky. It will be truly hard to say if they cannot hire out other villains to try and off the rest of the League. The last thing the world needs is a supervillain team funded by masked members of this Court."

Gregory felt a frown tugging at his lip. "Isn't the Court then your enemy?"

"No, Gregory." Batman explained, his tone a bit sharper then he expected. "If they do exist the Court will hit the world and I don't think the League has the numbers to stop them all. That's why Mari is here, that's why you're here too. We will need your help if the Court emerges in force or hires a force."

"Anarky likely won't last long. Since he revealed the Court's existence, I mean."

"They wouldn't care." Batman replied, leaning back in the chair with steepled fingers. "Anarky is small time for the Court. They're focused on much bigger targets."

"Such as?"

Batman slid to his feet. "We've already sent Hawkgirl and J'onn to protect the UN."

Gregory couldn't believe that he got to his feet then despite the pain that crawled along his limbs. "They couldn't be that bold or stupid."

"They can and they will." Batman's armored visor covered the lower portion of his features again. "Suit up, if you can. We'll know in the next few days for better or worse."

Gregory reached over, wincing as he grabbed his belt and strapping his revolvers to his waist. He was honestly surprised they weren't confiscated by the rest of the League. "I'm here to help, spooky. If I were to bet if you called upon a few other heroes they would step up as well."

Batman's face became shrouded again and the metallic tone that slipped from the helm returned. "I know they would, but I don't want the Court to intercept communications. We go silent as we can for now, go from there."

"…Christ I just left one war and now I'm going into another aren't I?"

Batman's helmed gaze turned to him. "The war never truly ends, Gregory. Only the soldiers get older."