It was past midnight when Ivy arrived back in Gotham but even at this late hour she had managed to beat Selina back to her home, climbing in through one of the windows. Ivy carefully crept through the house being careful not to trip over anything in the darkened house as she made her way to the living room. Upon entering she heard a hiss and low growl, finding Selina's cat glaring at her from where it sat next to the fireplace.
"Shoo you mangy beast!" Ivy hissed back, swatting at the black cat to scare it away. The cat gave her one last hiss before darting away into another room. Completely alone now Ivy took stock of her surroundings, noting the house hadn't changed since the last time she'd been there, expensive furniture and décor lined the rooms, no doubt the result of Selina's nightly activities. Ivy had little care for such luxuries herself, but to each their own she guessed.
She didn't have to wait long for Selina to return, the redhead quickly pressing her back to the nearest wall to hide as the thief walked in. Ivy waited for Selina to walk past her before quickly ensnaring her, startling the other woman who thrashed about to free herself but Ivy's hold only tightened. Realizing that she wasn't going anywhere Selina quit her struggling and glared at her assailant to find Ivy smirking at her.
"Pamela? What the hell!?" She shouted angrily.
"I could ask you the same thing Selina. Never took you for one to work with terrorists…"
"What the hell are you talking about!?"
"Oh, don't be coy. I saw you with Penguin and Bane, talking to those thugs in the woods. What would Batman say if he found out his little girlfriend was on the wrong side of the law again?"
"First of all, he's not my boyfriend…And secondly you have no idea what you're talking about, I don't work for Penguin and certainly not those brutes."
"Really? It doesn't look that way from where I'm seeing it." Ivy snarled, her patience wearing thin at Selina's word games. She willed her vines to tighten further, restricting Selina's airflow and causing her to gasp for air.
"Pamela…Please…" She gulped out, eyes wide with fear as she tried in vain to claw at the vine wrapped around her neck. Ivy held her grip for another second before releasing her neck and allowing her to breathe again.
"Better talk fast Kitty before I take one of your nine lives."
"Damnit Pamela we're on the same side! I'm spying on them for the Defense Department!" She quickly revealed, but Ivy shook her head in disbelief.
"Please Selina, we can't all be working for the government, now can we?" Ivy chided, tightening her vine once more.
"It's true! Who do you think told you're boss about that cargo ship last week!?" Selina quickly replied. Ivy looked into her eyes for any signs of deception, but finding none she released her grip and dropped Selina to the floor. Selina rubbed her throat and stood before explaining further. "I was approached by the CIA a few months back, they offered me pardons in exchange for information on the rogues. My contact is General Anderson, you're boss. I've been feeding him information for some time now."
"Did you tell him anything about me or Harley?" Ivy questioned. Friend or not, she'd kill Selina if she put Harley in danger.
"Nothing he didn't already know, but that's irrelevant seeing as how you're both working for him now Lance Corporal Isley…" Selina spat venomously.
"That's Doctor Lance Corporal Isley thank you." Ivy reminded her, causing Selina to roll her eyes.
"Of course, how could I forget…now did you come here for anything other than to strangle me?"
"Can you blame me for being cautious? You do have a bit of a track record betraying me for Batman after all." Ivy glared.
"Only when your schemes threatened to tear down the city and kill millions of people. I'm surprised you were even allowed in the military with all the crap on your record."
"It was a lot of paperwork from what I hear, but obviously I was well worth the trouble." Ivy smiled, more to herself than Selina.
Selina sighed and rolled her eyes again. "Well it certainly hasn't helped your ego…"
"My ego is just fine thank you, now what's Penguin planning?" Ivy asked, steering the conversation back to more important matters.
"All I know is that he's agreed to a partnership with old guy, General Nelson, guess he's the one in charge of this New Era group that's been causing so much trouble, but Penguin doesn't trust him. There's a rumor going around he's trying to set up an alliance with the other major players in case Nelson betrays him."
"Hmm, smart on his part but bad for us if it's true. We're stretched pretty thin as is combating the New Era and tracking the rogues down individually, having two large groups could be…problematic…"
"You're telling me. Look Penguin's sending me to liaison between him and Nelson, I'll be able to provide you guys with more information once I'm with them." Selina offered. Having heard enough Ivy passed her and headed towards the door.
"Just don't get caught, I'd hate for them to take one of your lives before I do. Now, as entertaining as this was I do have to report back. Later Cat…"
"Yeah, whatever…" Selina replied, crossing her arms as Ivy opened the door before calling out to her again. "Hey Pam? Look out for Harley, will you? She's been through enough and I don't want to see her get hurt again." Selina's friendship with Ivy was questionable at times, but just like Ivy Selina also wanted the best for Harley after everything she'd been through.
Ivy stopped in her tracks and looked back at Selina over her shoulder. "I'll die before that happens…"
…
Alex sat alone in his living room. Harley was out shopping, no doubt spending her money on more microwave pizza and soda. Alex had finally caught up on all of his paperwork for the recruiting office and his counseling's had been sent up to higher for review leaving him with nothing to do but sit at home and relax.
Currently he was adding the last few pieces to a Lego AT-AT, having started building the set after Harley left. Building the thing had actually been rather fun, taking his mind off of all the things that usually floated around in his brain and he was excited to see the finished product and find somewhere to display it. He was just about to add the last piece, his attention focused solely on putting it in the right place when someone started banging loudly on the front door.
The sudden loud noise startled Alex, causing him to jump and accidently knock the Lego off the table where it shattered into pieces on the floor. "Motherfucker!" Alex cried in dismay, all his work for the past few hours ruined…
He threw down the piece he'd been holding and headed for the door, muttering curses as he did. Alex yanked open the door to find Ivy waiting on the other side, an expectant look on her face.
"Isley? What the hell?" Alex asked, having not expected to see her until her leave ended in two more days.
Ivy pushed past him and into the living room, noting the shattered Lego by the table. "You're the second person to ask me that today Sergeant." She replied humorously.
"Well if you pound on all doors like they owe you money I wonder why? Not that I don't enjoy your company but aren't you supposed to be on leave?" Alex asked again, shutting the door behind him as he joined her in the living room.
She just shrugged in response before taking Alex's spot on the couch. "What's all this?" Ivy asked, picking up one of the Lego pieces of the ground in front of her.
"I was trying to relax and build that." Alex answered, pointing to the box on the table. "…Was almost done too until you rudely interrupted me and I knocked it over because you scared the crap out of me."
"Right…Sorry about that. Where's Harley?"
"Do I look like her babysitter to you?"
"Well she does have a tendency to get herself into trouble when left alone so maybe you should be…" Ivy replied sarcastically.
"That…Is an excellent point." Alex reluctantly agreed. "So, what brings you by so early in the morning?"
"So, let's say that instead of being on vacation I was actually following up on a lead I found during the mission last week and learned a lot of intel on the enemy…"
Alex sighed and rubbed his forehead, the beginnings of a migraine coming on. "You know if I was still a Corporal I'd be upset at this news, probably yell a lot and haze the dog shit out of you for taking such a risk without telling me about it. But I'm not a Corporal am I? Instead I'm just going to tell you that I'm disappointed, but also that I'm glad you have the initiative to do things on your own. You ever hear the saying Good initiative, Bad judgement? That pretty much sums this up. But if you did learn some important stuff the General should definitely know."
Ivy was surprised that he wasn't that upset that she'd gone on a mission without him or backup. "You're not mad?"
"What kind of Sergeant would I be if I didn't let my Lance Corporals grow on their own. Besides, being as old as you are I'd hope you'd have enough experience to make the right choices."
"Thanks…I think?"
"I'll call the General, you can tell him everything you've learned. But first, your gonna pick up all those damn parts you made me spill…"
Ivy sighed as she looked at the mound of Lego pieces before getting up from the couch. "Aye Sergeant…"
…
After Ivy explained to Alex everything she'd overheard he'd called everyone over for a meeting with the General, the ground element consisting of himself, Barbara, Harley, and Ivy, Watcher 1-5's crew, Captain Charles Thomas, 1st Lieutenant Catherine Sanders, and Chief Warrant Officer 3 Andrew Medina, Along with their representatives to the Justice League, Batman and Robin. Everyone crammed into the living room to pay attention as Ivy briefed General Anderson over video conference on what she'd learned.
"General Nelson… That's a name I haven't heard in a few years." The General said to himself.
"You know him Sir?" Alex asked curiously.
"Yes, he was my subordinate during the Gulf war. Superman and other meta-humans were just beginning to arrive on the scene, making their mark on the world. The United States was happy to have their assistance but Nelson wasn't trusting of them. He began preaching that Superman and those like him would bring about our destruction. Needless to say, he was relieved of command and retired."
"Well it looks like he got bored of it."
"Yes, it would seem that way. Regardless, he's threating innocent lives and needs to be stopped. Isley mentioned he was planning to get ahold of some kryptonite from Lex Luthor. Do we have any leads on that?"
Barbara had been looking for anything related to Luthor that might peek the New Era's interest and had discovered a way they could get to him. "I got something here Sir. Luthor's sister, Lena, is hosting a charity event in National City next week. It's being held in a shopping center and will be open to the public, making it an easy target. I think they'll try to use Lena to get what they want out of Lex." She quickly explained. The General nodded his agreement and wrote something down off screen before turning back to the assembled group.
"Agreed. Now there's also the matter of their site in Seattle that relates to Isley. We can't have them gaining an upper hand on us so I'll need that threat neutralized as well."
"I agree to Sir, but we can't be in two places at once. Which one do we go after first?" Alex asked.
"Both need to be dealt with sooner rather than later. That's why I'm splitting you up. Gordon and Quinzel will handle the charity event in National City with Watcher One-Five. You and Isley will fly to Washington and conduct site exploitation and reduction. I'm more than confident that Batman and Robin can hold the fort back in Gotham, especially since we know the New Era's trying to lure them out. Questions?"
Alex looked around the room to see that everyone was waiting silently. "Nothing Sir."
"Then gear up, you leave before the day is over…"
…
The sun was setting as Barbara threw her bag onto the Black Hawk. Alex and Ivy had already left for their flight to Washington an hour ago and Harley was grabbing the rest of her stuff from the SUV while Captain Thomas and his crew prepped their bird. The wind started to pick up and Barbara pulled the hood on her jacket up, her suit safely packed away in her bag for the flight. This was supposed to be a secret mission and having Batgirl running around National City would draw to many questions, so for the time being she was simply Barbara Gordon, college student on vacation with her friend Harleen.
Although her assignment was secret Barbara also didn't want National Cities defender, Supergirl, or Kara Zor-El as Barbara knew her, to be caught off guard if a firefight suddenly broke out in the middle of a shopping center so she'd made the courtesy call to inform her friend of the assumed threat. Kara had been happy to hear from Barbara and was thankful for the heads up, saying that she'd like to meet with her and Harley a few days before the event to catch up and help if she could. Barbara had happily agreed and promised to meet her once they landed.
After waiting for some time Harley finally showed up, tossing her bag onboard and climbing into the seat next to Barbara and smiling at her. Barbara returned the smile and nodded at the other woman. She had surprised to see that Harley had done away with her long hair, but guessed that she was seizing the opportunity to really reinvent herself. Wearing a black leather jacket over a tank top paired with dark colored jeans and combat boots really worked for the blonde, Barbara thought.
Harley bent over to grab something out of her bag and Barbara noticed she had the same diamond pattern that used to adorn her old jester costume tattooed on her lower back and Barbara wondered why Harley had kept them. She wasn't affiliated with Joker anymore so there was no reason to not have them removed, unless she was keeping them as a reminder of how she had fallen. In the end it was irrelevant really, Barbara knew that Harley was committed to their side now.
As Harley came back up with a handful of snacks in hand, Captain Thomas and the rest of the crew finished their pre-flight checks and began to warm up the bird, as CWO3 Medina hopped up in the seat next to the minigun as the rotors began to warm up.
"Ladies and Gentlemen, this is your Captain speaking. Federal regulations state this is a non-smoking Black Hawk helicopter, for our Gotham frequent fliers you'll be earning a hundred credits tonight, and as always sick bags are located directly under the seats. We know you have many choices when flying and we thank you again for choosing Marine Corps Aviation!" Captain Thomas announced cheerily over the radio as the helicopter rose from the ground and music began playing.
Barbara and Harley smiled happily as the bird took off and flew into the night, leaving Gotham behind and heading towards their next adventure…
…Mission Complete…