Gotham always looked odd when the snow fell. It never powered through it like Metropolis does and it never really added anything to it like in say Star City. The snow just sort of mixed in with the architecture, streets, and cars to form something almost entirely new city. Now did that change the inhabitants at all? Well, unfortunately the people who call this city home are too stubborn for their own good.
"Does that do it for the night sir?" Alfred's voice asked into Batman's ear. Batman ducked under a clumsy punch from an assailant and offered a strong boot to the back of the man's head that sent him to the ground unconscious.
"You should know the answer by now Alfred." Batman replied.
"But sir, with master Dick and his friends coming home for Christmas in a few days…"
"He's coming home to see you Alfred." Batman pointed out not bothering to believe any other reason.
"Sir…."
"I'll keep in touch." Batman said cutting off the voice before looking around at the five odd assailants lying in the snow covered street next to some rather expensive looking weaponry that while deadly in trained hands, proved useless to a few small time punks. "Guns are moving through the West End again. Probably coming in from the Port." Batman thought to himself as he grabbed each downed individual and placed them around a nearby glistening light post tying them to it so they wouldn't get any ideas. He grabbed the now obsolete guns and walked towards his rumbling transportation. After depositing the weapons safely in the trunk, he leaped over the hood of the Batmobile and into the driver's seat. The engine roared with power before blasting back onto the wintery road sending thick clouds of snow into the air that all came back down in a dazzling show.
"Bruce?" A new voice said from his communicator.
"What is it Clark? Trouble with Toyman?" Batman asked.
"Well not anymore." His friend said smiling a few hundred miles away as said Toyman was carted into the back of a heavily fortified van. "Honestly, I think he's not trying as hard."
"Well don't let him hear that." Batman replied whizzing by a slower car.
" Alfred called. He said your worried about Dick."
"I'm not worried about him." Batman grumbled annoyed at his butler's ability to contact pretty much any one of his friends. "He won't want to see me so I'm doing him a favor."
"Well why wouldn't he want that?"Superman asked.
"Because of a mistake." Batman replied simply.
"Not going to elaborate?"
"Trust me you wouldn't either." Batman said his voice heavy with regret that sounded strange coming from him.
"Ok but I think you should at least try and talk it out. You never know when you might not be able to again." Superman said concerned for his friend as he took off into the Metropolis sky.
"I'll keep that in mind."
"You mean you'll ignore it." Superman pointed out with a light twinge of humor just as Batman cut of the the transmission. That boy scout advice of his always got under his skin. But at the same time, it was almost always right. Batman knew he would have to talk to Dick about what had happened between them one day. And with no possible world ending events happening in the last six months since the Darkseid incident. Well to be perfectly blunt, they were due for another one at any time. So that day would have to come sooner rather than later. But not now. Now he would simply respond to a loud police alert that screamed out how two armed gunmen were robbing a nearby jewelry store.
"Hey Frank. Where the hell have you been?" A tall sized lumbering man asked to the new figure who walked into the light cast by a small dumpster fire. The man named Frank waved to both his greeter and to the two others who sat by the crackling flames. Dropping from his shoulders a suspiciously human sized blob wrapped in discarded newspapers and secondhand rags that maybe once upon a time could've been considered clothes at his side.
"Frank? Please tell me that isn't what I think it is?" One of the sitting men asked his voice high with worry as he pointed towards the wrapped up object.
"Relax Paul." Frank replied trying to ease the worry before it spread. "He's still alive. I found him in a dumpster."
"Is he okay?" Asked a feminine voice.
"I'm not sure. I heard him crash into it so he could have been wanting to end it." Frank replied casting a strange look over to the man.
"Then you should've left him." The larger man said.
"Hey, it's the Christmas season, maybe all he needs is someone to talk to." Frank reasoned. "Remember how bad off you were when we met, Wallace?"
Wallace huffed behind his covered face and looked away causing Frank to laugh and look over to the only female in the group. "Would you mind taking a look at him Janice?"
"Sure, honey." The smaller figure named Janice replied pulling back her hood to reveal a face of early sixties, light grey hair, and kind blue eyes moving towards the unconscious person and bending over to look at him. He was at least partly Asian but didn't look it completely and even if he had been it wouldn't have done anything to his looks as far as she was concerned. "Well, he's certainly a fine looking young man." She said with no small sense of awe. "He's got better hair than I do."
"That's not exactly hard to do." Paul said speaking causing a middle finger to be pointed his way. A few more moments passed before she spoke again.
"He's perfectly healthy. Not visible scars, bruises, nothing. He's honestly in better shape than any of us." She said with a sigh.
"So what then? Stockbroker who lost all his money?" Wallace asked throwing out any possible suggestions at who the stranger was.
"We should wait and ask him." Janice said looking back towards the figure. "His body's exhausted but he sounded like he was waking up." She was proven right when the stranger began to groan and force himself off the ground. At the risk of watching him fall back over, Frank and Janice moved to hold him up. They did so just in time as the man fell back into their arms trying desperately get control of his body.
"Whoa. Easy son, you fell ten stories." Frank said. The man looked up to the voice that spoke with onyx covered eyes that seemed to radiate confusion. He moved to speak but found his throat was far too dry to do that, making a small dry noise rather than actual words. Janice seemed to catch up on this and looked over to Wallace. The large man nodded grumpily at the look and pulled out a glass bottle filled with a dark colored liquid.
"Here honey. It's not water but it should perk you up." Janice said grabbing the glass and pouring some of the liquid down the man's throat. He nearly coughed it back up at first but quickly got used to the flavor and downed close to half the bottle in one go before finally breathing. Frank took the bottle away from his hands and help him sit back on the ground. The man looked at all of them now as his he began to fully realize his surroundings and just how cold it was. He immediately pulled the makeshift newspaper blanket closer to his skin causing Paul to laugh.
"Yeah, that sounds about right." He said smiling at the Asian. "So, you-cold-long-time?"
"Paul." Janice scolded punching him in the shoulder. He once again laughed it of rubbing his shoulder clearly confusing the stranger even more.
"Where am…" His voice caught in his throat. Those words weren't his. Were they? Didn't he sound different? Didn't he speak something else?
"Welcome to Gotham. Crown jewel of the U.S." Frank said with a noticeable sarcastic voice. Itachi's eyes widened yet again as he could perfectly understand the man and his strange sounding words. The man himself was dressed modestly with raggedy clothes and a strange looking hat coupled with a thick brown beard and hazel eyes. "Names Frank."
"Frank?" Itachi repeated back to the man who nodded. What a strange name.
"That's right. That big fella over there is Wallace." Frank said pointing to the tallest figure with a bald head, green eyes who dressed in similar rags. "Paul." He said pointing over to the thinner man who waved in greeting. "And Janice." He finished looking over to the elderly woman. She gave a slight head bow in greeting. Ok he took it back, they were all strange names. "So, you got a name stranger?" Frank asked.
"Itachi." He said in greeting. "Itachi Uchiha."
"Uchiha? Sounds Japanese." Wallace said pondering the name pronunciation.
"Japanese?" Itachi asked not recognizing the name yet understanding it as his mind began to race with even more questions. The most problematic of which was that small little issue of not being dead. By all accounts he was alive if tired and cold.
"What? Never heard of the Japs?" Wallace asked only to be hushed by Janice.
"Let's give a minute to think." She said. Itachi would've thanked her if not for the literal dozens of questions that now ran through his mind. Why was he alive? What was this Gotham city ? Why was he speaking and understanding a language he never heard before? Why was it snowing? None of it made sense!
"What's the last thing you remember honey?" Janice asked clapping his shoulder trying to comfort the clearly confused young man. He looked at the hand and then to the person who it belonged to. His concerned face relaxed somewhat at meeting her kind eyes.
"Dying." He said simply.
The four looked at him like he had grown a second head. "Yes. I'm sure it sounds strange."
"Well not as strange as you might think. What with all the weirdos who fly around these days." Paul replied.
"You do know half of them can probably here you right?" Frank replied.
"Oh yeah, well they can PISS OFF FOR DESTROYING MY HOUSE!" He screamed out to the cloud filled dark sky and falling snowflakes.
"Feel better?" Janice asked.
" A little bit." He replied with a little laugh.
"You've lost your home?" Itachi asked. That definitely made sense considering the rags the man was wearing.
"We all have." Frank replied. "Paul lost his in a some superhero fight. Janice's ex took hers in the divorce. Wallace lost his job when the recession hit, and I got fired a while back." He said as each looked away at the sad reminder of their predicament.
"Well why stop there Frank? Want to tell him about my athlete's foot as well?" Wallace asked annoyed at the ball cap wearing man. Frank shrugged in reply causing Itachi to unknowingly grow a small smile.
"What about the buildings around here?" Itachi said staring up to the towering objects that currently surrounded them.
"All occupied. Otherwise we'd be there and out of this god damned cold." Janice complained with a shiver as she pulled her own paper blanket closer to her.
"I hear that. So what do you guys say to a little celebration." Wallace said pulling out a small wad of green paper. Itachi noticed everyone's faces light up at the sight and figured the roll of papers must've been this place's currency.
"Where did you get that much cash?" Frank asked.
"I managed to land score a job at the docks. Got my first check earlier today."
"Well then what the hell are we doing here? Let's get some steaks!" Paul yelled out excited as he turned to look at Janice. "Irene's?"
"Sounds good to me." Janice said with a nod straightening up. Frank nodded in agreement and helped Itachi to his feet. He had no idea where they were going but if the destination was food, he saw no reason to complain.
The walk to Irene's was beyond taxing for the Uchiha. Not because of his lack of strength. No that had been returning to him steadily with each step he took. But the sights that filled threatened to knock him on his ass. Fast moving vehicles called "cars" sped by all around them at speeds that could rival his own movements. The buildings that had surrounded them in that alleyway had proved to be actually minuscule in size compared many of the others. Some of the buildings reached so high into the sky he wondered if they were taller than any of structures back in Ame. The largest of which probably stood close to a hundred feet higher than the second tallest if Itachi had to guess. In particular about said building was the giant letter W illuminated on its side.
"Ah. First time seeing Wayne Tower?" Frank asked looking up to the structure with a small degree of awe. "I never get tired of seeing it."
"This Wayne. He is a person?" Itachi asked trying to get a feel for the city.
"Richest man in Gotham and probably the world." Frank said with a sigh. "Kind of a dick though if I'm being honest." Itachi's eyes widened at the very idea of how much money this Wayne must've had and chuckled lightly at the description at the end.
"Hey, you can reminisce about your job later. Let's eat!" Wallace suddenly yelled out to the pair as he opened a door to a small diner that sat comfortably in the shadow of several far bigger structures with the word plastered at the top in neon. Irene's.
Batgirl's thoughts should've been on her job. It was a cold night in Gotham and those hardly ever turned out well. But as she glided through the air and onto another rooftop, her thoughts constantly drifted back to Dick coming home for the holidays. They hadn't seen each other in forever and the idea should've filled her with excitement. Instead though, all she felt was anxious. It wasn't like she didn't understand why, nor could she blame him for doing it. But she had hoped that the three of them had put what happened behind them but now with him coming back, she wondered if it would actually stay buried.
"Hey Batgirl?" A voice echoed into her ear.
"Yeah? What's up Huntress?"
"Not much. Just kind of bored." Huntress replied.
"How's Tim doing?"Batgirl asked looking over the side down to the sparsely populated streets below.
"He's fitting right in." Huntress said with a smile as the sound of skulls bashing together echoed all around her as well as a childlike laugh that followed. Soon enough a young crime fighter flipped over to her side and raised an eyebrow through his mask.
"I thought you were going to join in."
"Some other time Red. Right now, I'm honestly hungry." Huntress said ruffling the boy's head. The boy in question was dressed head to toe in a crimson colored outfit with an R stitched into the right side of his chest. "What do you say Batgirl? Want to grab us some food?"
"Sure." Batgirl grumbled annoyed that she had been volunteered but nevertheless feeling hungry herself. I got to make a patrol past the Southside anyway. I'll pick you guys up something along the way."
"How's that going to work exactly?" Tim's voice said, making itself known on the intercom. "Just walk up to a diner and ask for food dressed in your costume?"
"As long as they get their money, I don't think they'll really care." Batgirl pointed out before running to the opposite end of the roof and flipping into the air before activating her grapple.
"So you don't think he'll be mad?" Tim asked Huntress.
"Red, trust me. You're going to get off scotch free compared to the other Bats." Huntress admitted.
"I can still hear you two!" Batgirl's voice yelled before cutting off. Tim looked guilty but Huntress simply shrugged it off.
"Your fault for cheating on him." Huntress mumbled.
"Now this is food." Paul garbled out as he chewed on a medium well steak. "We're doing this every week now."
"With you appetite. I wonder if Wallace will ever do this for us again." Janice replied drinking some sweet tea.
"Let's just take this for what it's worth ok." Frank said looking over to his big friend. "Thanks for this."
"Don't mention it. Food's always better with friends." Wallace replied before looking over to see the empty plate of the newest member of their little entourage. Itachi had never been a voracious eater but for some reason or another, he had been hungry since he awoke and the food in this city was just so damn good. Especially considering he never particularly cared for steak before. In fact, he ate with such ferocity that several other people in the crowded diner had stopped to look over to him.
"That's…that's amazing." Itachi said fighting back the urge to ask for seconds. Especially considering that with every bite he took, he could feel his previously minuscule chakra supply grow.
"Knew you'd like it. Irene's had the best steaks in this town ever since I was a kid." Paul smiled with a decent burp. "Janice too, though I guess that was back in the Stone Age."
"Keep it up Paul. See if I help you out anymore." She said biting into her last steak piece.
Itachi smiled at the group's antics. They were definitely a mismatched sort and yet he couldn't imagine them working with anyone else. Strangely enough it reminded him of the last real group he had been a part of.
"Itachi?" Janice asked bringing him back to reality. He looked around at the concerned faces of the others before bowing his head.
"You ok? You looked lost in your own little world there." Frank said finishing his drink.
"Yeah speaking of which. Where are you actually from?" Paul asked. Itachi's eyes widened as a thought came to him.
"Do you have a map?" He asked. The four of them looked at each to answer him but before they could, three loud BANGS rocked the diner as three goons appeared into view.
"All right boys and girls. Just set your wallets to the side and we'll be in and out of your hair in no time." Their leader sneered. Despite the now fearful atmosphere that quickly flooded the diner, one person found himself just as composed as he had been before. The only real difference being that what was once a small smile had shifted into a neutral and slightly unsettling frown.
"Joke's on him. We have no money." Paul whispered as the two smaller goons began to go around the room while the one in charge moved to the register.
"Shut up Paul." Janice whispered back to him as she tried to position himself in front of Wallace. The action didn't go unnoticed by one of the thugs however who sneered and pointed a gun in her direction. Itachi didn't know what that object was but by Janice's body stiffening, it must've been dangerous.
"C'mon, cough up the dough."
"We're homeless. We don't have any—AH!" She shrieked as the gun crashed into the side of her head knocking her out of her seat and into the floor.
"Bullshit. You wouldn't be eating here if you didn't have any."
"HEY! Leave her alon—GHA!" Whatever courage Paul had disappeared as the same thug planted his foot into his stomach. Knocking him down as well.
"You three got anything to say?" He then asked to the three still sitting people waving the weapon around in each of their faces clumsily before stopping directly in front of Itachi's. The man pulled back and sneered at his calm look.
"Well now, we got ourselves a brave one?" He asked flipping the table out of the way and standing directly in front of the formerly dead ninja. "It's ok to be scared you know. Makes the job more entertaining."
Frank and Wallace gave a subtle nod to each other that meant not to try any thing but unfortunately Itachi didn't understand the gesture.
"Strange. Considering I don't find it the least bit amusing." Itachi said surprising Wallace and Frank in just how cold his voice then became and making eye contact with the robber's emerald colored eyes.
"Oh yeah?" The man growled out concerned by the look of pure ice that Itachi's eyes had become. He pointed the gun directly at Itachi's head an inch away from his nose."Well about I just blow your god damned head off?!"
Itachi's old Anbu instincts kicked in as he scanned the room taking in the locations of the other two assailants frighteningly quick before putting all of his attention back on the one. "With my luck? All it would do is annoy me."
The man was going to reply before a sudden tidal wave of fear washed over him as the previously onyx eyes that were staring into his own shifted into a far more intimidating crimson color.