Shots Fired

Part 1

After getting some rest, Chelsea stirred the next day from her restoration cot and stretched. Her head was still sore, but it wasn't something a little Tylenol wouldn't fix. She looked to the floor and saw someone had brought her bag in. Grabbing it, she sifted through to find her medicine bottle and took a couple Tylenol to help ease the pain. Noticing the Warfarin tablets had reminded her to collect one for Batman so he could do whatever he pleased with it.

As she made the walk down the hallways, all seemed quiet and calm. It was so quiet the sound of her growling stomach echoed off of the walls. When she went into the kitchen, it was so clean and well kept. It looked like it had never been touched. Pulling her cell phone from her pocket, she went to check the time only for it to occur to her that she wouldn't have service in space. She looked around for a clock on the wall. It said 9AM, but she wasn't sure how accurate it was.

"Chelsea," a familiar sultry tone sounded from behind her. When she turned around, Batman was standing before her. He quickly reached out for her phone, took it, and smashed it with his boot.

Her jaw hung open with astonishment, "What did I do to deserve that?"

He tucked some hair back behind her ear and placed a radio device next to her eardrum, "It's dangerous for you to communicate on anything other than that radio. That line cannot be traced or tapped."

She stared at the broken pieces on the floor that were once her phone, "Thanks… I guess?" He started to head for the door without another word, "Wait!" she said, taking the sample pill he wanted from her out of her pocket, and placing it in his palm. He stared at the tablet quietly and then slipped into one of his belt pockets, "Why don't you stick around for a bit?" she asked.

He stared at her with those deep blue eyes, but didn't say a word for a time. His stare was chilling, but Chelsea frowned instead of shivered. She had never seen such sad eyes in her entire life, "What for?"

"I'll make you the best breakfast you've ever had," she said, "mark my words."

"I'll pass," he murmured, starting for the door again.

"Oh come on! You owe me!" she protested.

"And you came to that conclusion, how?" he asked.

She held up what once used to be her phone, now a dilapidated piece of rubble.

He exhaled deeply through his nose, as his eyes turned to the bar stool.

"Even the greatest detective in the world has to get hungry once and awhile, right?" she wondered.

He took a seat at the island counter in the center of the kitchen. He laced his fingers together and waited quietly, but Chelsea didn't mind, as she started scanning the cabinets for locations of items. Who else could say they were making breakfast for Batman and the rest of the Justice League? She felt sort of honored. As she started cracking eggs in a skillet, Batman opened his mouth to speak, "I'm sorry."

She wasn't sure where the sudden apology came from, "It's an old phone anyway. Don't worry about it."

"About that night in the alleyway. If it were under any other circumstances, you might have died. I should have been there." Batman explained.

Chelsea paused and turned to him. Reaching out to him from across the counter she placed a hand on his, "Bad things happen, Batman. I don't hold a grudge against you. It's not your job to-" She caught herself as his stare met hers, "Well, what I mean to say is… you can't be everywhere." She thought back on that night, "The next day, I remember the news… you had stopped Two-Face from seizing control over a bank and taking the lives of the innocent security guards there. I remember he shot a guy and if you hadn't arrived it would have been too late for him. I believe that fate puts us where we're most needed."

Batman's stare never shifted, as he started to open his mouth the door opened and Flash wandered in, "Hey!" he greeted.

"Hey Wally," Chelsea smiled, turning back to her cooking, "have a seat. I'm making breakfast for everyone."

Wally's eyes flashed to Bruce's, who was already staring at him. It occurred to Flash it was strange for Batman to still be hanging around, "Making food for seven other people sounds kind of rough doing it by yourself. You need some help?" he asked.

"Nah, I got it," she assured.

Wally took a seat by Batman and watched the girl work. She started doing four different things at once and was miraculously good at it. As time went by, she asked for Wally to round up the rest of the league and have them come get their fresh meal. When everyone filed it, they looked shocked by the amount of food that was spread across the counter. She went all out. Even went as far as scrambling two dozen eggs to ensure Wally got enough to compensate for his metabolism.

Batman was the first to finish his plate and started to put it in the sink when Chelsea took the plate from him and started to wash it, "You didn't eat anything…" he murmured.

She shrugged, "I knew I was taking a risk since I didn't know how much everyone would eat, but it's not a big deal. I'll make myself something else."

Bruce couldn't take his eyes off of her as she started cleaning the dirty dishes. He saw a nurturing nature he had never seen in anyone else before. Almost like a mother tending to her children, but she looked so satisfied. Like she wasn't the least bit disappointed after all of her hard-work she didn't even get to have any. And now she was even doing the dishes? She certain wasn't your average twenty-two year old.

A hand came from above her head and swiped the plate that was in her hand, "Ah ah ah," Wally protested, "I can bust these bad boys out in no time. You should sit and relax for a change."

"It was delicious Chelsea," Wonder Woman complimented.

"I haven't had such a good meal in ages," agreed Clark.

"Don't worry about it guys. I'm just trying to help." Chelsea said, taking a seat where Batman once sat.

Batman lingered beside the sink, "Make sure she eats something…" he told Wally.

Wally paused, "What? She didn't eat?"

Batman's jaw straightened, "She didn't get to." After that brief exchange, Batman started for the door.

"Going so soon Batman?" Clark asked.

Batman didn't respond.

"If we don't see you," Chelsea started, "I hope you have a good day."

Batman stopped at the door, his hand on the panel. Turning back to look at her he gave her a look that she understood all too well with just one glance. It was a grateful look, without changing his expression at all. One he was not willing to share with anyone else. He was thankful she spent her time making him a meal. Quickly he exited the room.

"He seems to like you a lot," Wonder Woman noticed.

"Me?" she asked.

"He's not one to stick around for anything other than business." Clark told her.

"Bats doesn't exactly play well with others…" Flash explained.

Clark's face fell, "Go easy on the guy… he lost his parents when he was very young. They were killed by a gunman."

Chelsea stood up quietly after hearing that. She had no idea. She walked out of the kitchen and leaned against the wall outside in the hallway. For some reason, she couldn't help but start to cry. It was almost instantaneous. Without even realizing it, she was brought to tears. Mourning a loss that had occurred probably before she was even born, but this was different. This was the explanation for a hero that has made the only home she's ever known safer. He was always so busy looking out for everyone else, but did anyone ever have his back?

She covered her mouth, and slid down to the floor, silently sobbing to herself. Those sad eyes. She couldn't stop picturing those sad eyes stare right down into her very soul.

"Hey Chels," Flash spoke with enthusiasm, but it quickly faded when he saw her tears, "Woah, what's wrong? Does your head hurt or something?" her eyes were reddened with sadness. It startled something in him. Kneeling down in front of her, he stared at her waiting for a response.

She shook her head and wiped her tears away, "It's nothing…" she really didn't know how to explain exactly what came over her.

Flash tried to cheer her up with a smile, "C'mon, I know you didn't get anything to eat. I make a great PB and J." he said nudging her with his elbow.

She laughed and managed a smile, "Alright, but afterwards, you still owe me that game of Horse."

He helped her to her feet and led her back into the kitchen. Each member of the Justice League took mental notes. Whether they were about Chelsea's sudden puffy eyes or Wally's reaction to quickly come to her aid was unclear.

After Chelsea ate, the two went off to compete in their game of horse. Chelsea was surprisingly pretty good even if Flash was over a half a foot taller than her. She sunk the last basket and turned to him with a smile, "Hold on, best three out of five?" he asked.

"You already said two out of three," she grinned.

"I lied," he joked.

Chelsea checked the wall clock, "I was actually going to head down to Earth and do some grocery shopping." She told him.

"Oh," he replied, "alright." He set the basketballs back on the ball rack.

"You wanna come with?" she asked.

"Sure," he smiled, "I'm sure I could cut your time by half if you want."

"Do you know the floor plan of the store I'm going to?" she said tilting her head sarcastically.

"Wouldn't take me long to figure it out." He winked.

Chelsea took the time to gather everybody and have them write down a couple things they wanted. Hawkgirl and Martian Manhunter didn't know much about Human cousine so they just stood and watched, "You're not our maid, you know?" asked Clark.

"I know, but someone has to cook around here…" Chelsea replied, "be back later. If you need anything, holler. Batman got me an earpiece so I'm caught up to speed."

"Going with her Wally?" asked Wonder Woman.

"She's shopping enough for two families. Someone should help her." Flash noted, and before he could hear anymore he was out the door with Chelsea.

Chelsea actually wasn't a bad flyer. Very cautious, but she didn't hurt anything so that was a positive note. Flash on the other hand had never been taught how to fly one of their ships. Perhaps the other members worried what he'd do with that kind of power, like go pick up chicks with it or something.

When they arrived at the store Chelsea grabbed a cart and started on one end of the store, "I could take a quick look around for you if you want."

Chelsea smiled at him quietly.

"What?" he asked curiously.

She kept walking, "Have you ever watched Ferris Bueller's Day Off, Wally?" she asked.

"Of course I have, but why?" it was such an odd question.

"Life moves pretty fast. If you don't stop and look around once and awhile… you could miss it." she winked at him.

He stared at her sort of shocked. No one had ever put it to him like that before. He was so used to his speed being a good thing, but when she put it like that, "Have it your way then…" he shrugged it off, trying not to overthink it, because when he did that he usually ended up with a headache.

Suddenly, things grew serious when the two heard a gunshot go off at the front of the store. The two looked at each other, "Ever seen Top Gun?" he asked.

"Yeah," she replied.

"I feel the need for speed," he replied, zipping off to the edge of the aisle they were standing in to take a peek around to the front of the store, since they hadn't made it too far in before something bad happened.

Chelsea came up behind him, "What do you see?"

"It's a young kid…" Flash whispered, "but… it's strange… I don't see a gun anywhere."

"What should we do?" she asked.

"I can get to him and get him on the floor before he can react. Once I do, check on all of the cashiers. Make sure they're safe." He instructed, then zipped off and had the kid pinned to the floor before he realized what hit him. The kid couldn't have been more than sixteen, "Let me go!"

Chelsea hovered above the six cash registers that were lined up. Everyone looked to be okay, just incredibly freaked out. In a Gotham City market, not many people were used to the superpower thing. She landed in front of Flash, "I'll call the police," she told him, and started to turn away when she was staring at the barrel of a revolver. She looked up at the gunman's eyes to see another boy, probably a little older than the other, staring at her.

"I'm sorry, what did you say you would do now?" he wondered sarcastically.

Chelsea held up her hands and Wally was now in a tight spot. He could try to get to this other teenager, but he took a chance on the gun going off and hurting one of the cashiers or Chelsea, "What do you want kid?" asked Flash.

"Give me my kid brother back…" he grabbed Chelsea by her hair and held her there, "or I shoot her."

"This is hardly an even trade, for you." Flash always had something to say as he tossed the boy in his direction.

The gunman continued to hold onto Chelsea, "Perhaps I'll just keep her then."

Chelsea elbowed him in the stomach, causing him to release her head, in one quick motion she grabbed for the gun, and pulled it from his grasp before he could comprehend what had just occurred. She now stood beside Flash, with the gun at her side, "That's enough fun for one afternoon." she told them.

The younger boy made a gun gesture with his hand and pointed it at one of the cashiers, "Bang…" he murmured, and instantly the woman doubled over, blood spraying from her body.

Chelsea and Flash were at a loss. That's when Chelsea realized the older brother was just a distraction all along. The younger boy had some sort of shooting ability and the real gun was just to mask the fact. She wondered if the revolver was even loaded.

"What're you going to do now?" asked the younger brother.

That was a good question, "Wally," she whispered.

Suddenly one of the ceiling tiles fell and smoke poured into the building. When that happened, the boys shot a window and jumped out, making their escape. When the smoke cleared, there was Batman. He looked to Chelsea, "Are you alright?" he asked.

"Fine, but we need to get this lady medical attention right now," she told him, kneeling down to the floor to check for a pulse, and applying pressure to the wound that was in her right shoulder. She reflected on it's location. The right shoulder? If that boy was shooting to kill, surely he would have aimed for her left. She was at point-blank range. Even someone who had never fired a gun before, like herself, would have probably been able to vitally wound this woman.

"I'm fine too by the way, Bats." Wally interjected.

Batman heard the police pull up, "C'mon," he told the two. When the police walked in, all three heroes were gone. They got the injured woman into an ambulance. Batman, Chelsea, and Flash watched from the roof of the grocery store, "What happened?" asked Batman.

"One of the kids had some strange power. His hand fired like a gun." Flash explained.

"Something's not right though," Chelsea spoke, holding her hand up like a gun to Wally.

"Woah, Chels!" he said, with his hands up in a defensive stance.

Chelsea looked to Batman, "The boy was about the same distance as I am from Flash." She acted like she fired, "I mean, a blind man could make that shot." Batman watched her, understanding her point instantly.

"He never intended on killing her…" Batman said.

"I think so too," she told him, "These kids aren't ready to kill anybody. Something's just not right. Regardless," Chelsea started to reach for her ear to radio the others, "I think we should form a search party and find them. They couldn't have gotten too far."

Batman grabbed her hand, "No," he barked.

"Chill, Bats. What's the problem?" asked Wally.

"I do not want the entire Justice League flying around Gotham." He told them sternly, "We find them. We turn them in. That's it."

"But-?" Flash started to wonder.

Chelsea glanced at Wally, "Alright." She knew why Batman didn't want the extra hands. She was even willing to bet that if it came down to it, he'd rather face this challenge alone. He felt like these were his streets to protect. The others would just stand in the way of that, along with his pride.

"Did I miss something only Gotham residents understand?" asked Flash impatiently.

"Let's get moving," Batman said, pointing his grappling hook toward a nearby building.