Chapter 6: No Call Forwarding


When several women associated with the "Rogues Gallery" of Gotham City convened in one spot, a great many things sprang to mind, and usually not positive things either. What really stuck out in Detective Ellen Yin's mind though, was how flipping conspicuous they all were. First, even without as much face time on the local news as some of the bigger-named criminals, it felt like it should be obvious who these women were. This frustration was only amplified by the fact they made no effort to conceal their identities. True, Ms. Pendragon was a rather unique case, but the woman known as Erin Knightly—soon to be Erin Tetch if the rumors proved true—didn't even bother to wear something other than the same Alice In Wonderland get-up that was apparently part of her tea shop's uniform.

Secondly—and a great deal more bothersome—was the fact that the detective couldn't do anything about it. Six women together, almost all of them implicit in multiple crimes, and she couldn't do anything except sip at her smoothie and sit on her hands. More than once she had to take deep breaths and whisper aloud "remember why you're here, Yin." After all, she wasn't there to bust and cuff rogues who weren't doing anything. She was present as Guen Pendragon's handler, having granted the younger woman this opportunity after some discussion. And technically none of these individuals were committing a crime.

Yet, the detective's mind added cynically.

Still, as she watched the conversation from a handful of tables away, she couldn't help but feel somewhat sad whenever she looked at Pendragon. The kid never asked for a burden to be added to her load, and it was probably hard to have minimal contact with her support group of friends. But, Yin had to remind herself, Guen's probation and restrictions were the consequences of her own poor choices. That at least helped to keep Yin's human sympathy and professional attitude separate. So, working on balancing the two, she continued to watch in silence as she sipped on that smoothie, wondering what exactly would come next.

Dead silence hung over the table following Guen's pronouncement. She waited for a long moment, watching the stunned faces of her five friends as they stared at her. Unsurprisingly Banshee and Magpie were the ones to break the silence.

"You're preggers?!" Vanessa gasped in horror as Akira practically bellowed "you got knocked up?!" loud enough the entire block might have heard. Guen winced, tensing her wings and shutting her eyes. She should have expected as much from those two but even so, even knowing both girls were just giving honest responses… They were both very unfiltered under normal circumstances, so why should something like this be any different?

Because it is, she told herself defensively.

"Oh. Oh geez!" Vanessa said guiltily. "Sorry, love."

"Forgiven," Guen answered in an exhale, trying to relax. "I...know this is huge news and I knew it'd be quite a bomb to drop."

"Well doll, you could have told us sooner, you know," May added in, sounding a touch defensive herself. "Or at least me, at any rate. We could be good emotional support for one another."

Guen looked at her eldest friend, whose hand was casually resting upon her already significant midriff. She winced again; May had a point there. She could have at least brought it up to her before. Why hadn't she?

Because I'm stubborn, Wraith remarked, before adding in a much smaller voice, And because we were both afraid.

It was true. She was afraid, completely afraid of what was yet to come.

"Alright, alright; hold on, ladies," Erin declared in a voice of authority as she stood up from her seat. Resting one hand on Guen's right shoulder, she addressed the table at large. "This is a huge deal, and Guen deserves nothing less than our unflinching support. I think we can all agree on that, right?"

A murmur of assent swept through their number, heads bobbing in confirmation to varying degrees. Guen looked down at her hands folded in her lap, unsure how she should respond. Her own emotions were mixed enough as it was, and all she had in her brain that wasn't emotionally-charge was the thought that the weather was a bit warmer than usual for Gotham. That, and the base of her right wing was starting to itch a little. Maybe she could convince Erin to scratch it for her.

"I don't think anyone was suggesting she didn't have it," May remarked. "But yes, I do think we can all agree on that."

This was met with another round of nods, and someone suddenly gave Guen's left forearm a gentle squeeze. Surprised, she looked up and met Ink's gaze. It was odd to see her normally cheerful, bubbly friend so subdued, but after Guen had finally said the words she'd been holding in for months Ink had gone very quiet. Flashes of worry, compassion and slight confusion warred on the blonde woman's face as she watched Guen, still holding onto her arm. Guen worked a tiny, fleeting smile onto her face, mouthing a thank-you.

"I think we can all also agree that a certain person isn't coming within five hundred feet of Guen any more before we kill him," May added viciously, receiving startled looks from all of them. "And I won't be challenged on that."

"Cor," Vanessa murmured. "She's a regular Mummy Wolf, isn't she?"

"Pregnancy hormones," Akira whispered to her friend, still looking wary.

"Yes, well," Erin said, smiling in a way that said let's-switch-the-subject-right-now and resuming her point. "Love and unflinching support. And that being the case—" she turned and faced Guen directly. "I am here to take you out for spa days and massages and all the girl's day out days you could ever want!"

"Uh, thanks Erin?" Guen blinked, a bit thrown off by this proclamation. It was a sweet and very Erin Knightly thing to do, but it was also probably the last thing she would have expected to hear at this discussion.

"Hey!" Vanessa suddenly spoke up, eyes bright. "What if we all chipped in a bit to help you get some of the things you'll need for the baby?"

"Well… um... " Guen hesitated. Now this had been closer to what she'd been hoping to hear, but knowing her friends, "chipping in" was likely to entail obtaining necessities through less-than-legal means. And with Detective Ellen Yin nearby, that was something she preferred not to openly advertise.

Not to mention the added uncertainty she'd neglected to speak up about. After all, she still wasn't sure she wanted to keep the baby. If even Wraith had felt strongly about it one way or the other she may have already made a decision, but her other personality remained just as torn as she did.

"No taking 'but' for an answer here, doll," May said, mistaking her silence for reluctance. "If I must endure well-meaning gifts and a baby shower I specifically didn't ask for, then you're going to go through it with me."

"Er, um," Guen stuttered a second, thrown again for a loop. "Uh, thanks May… I think."

"Ooh!" Erin gave a small squeal and her eyes lit up, having zeroed in on only one part of that exchange. "Another baby shower?"

"You are not in charge of planning any baby showers for me," Guen said quickly, trying to suppress her growing horror. That was all she needed, a Wonderland-themed baby shower. A secondary, equally horrifying thought followed that one and she turned to Akira and Vanessa, quickly adding, "And neither are you two."

"Didja see us saying anything?" Akira grumbled, crossing her arms.

"Guen," Erin began in tones of great patience. "You're not supposed to plan your own baby shower and we wouldn't let you anyway. It's a celebration of new life about to enter the world; there will need to be pastel, baby-friendly colors. Knowing you, you'd pick a depressing, abandoned house gussied up for a Goth poetry reading."

The winged woman shot her the most annoyed, withering look she could manage before choosing to ignore the jibe. "Well then, that leaves Ink and May," she said pointedly. Ink, who would normally jump at the possibility of helping to organize a party, tried to muster up an apologetic smile and shook her head. May rolled her eyes and gave a snort.

"Please," she said, whipping out her phone and scrolling through something on it. "I know people we can hire to organize that for us. It'll save everyone some headache."

"Everyone among the six of you, you mean," a new voice cut in, and all of them jumped, promptly spinning about to look at Detective Yin. "Any event you hold—even a baby shower—has to pass my screening first. Furthermore, I will be monitoring and regulating such parties to ensure nobody gets any entrepreneuring ideas."

May gave her a rather wry, sour look. "If you wanted an invitation, all you had to do was ask," she said acidly. Yin's eyebrows narrowed. She definitely didn't find the joke amusing and Guen tensed almost involuntarily. The conversation hadn't been leaning in her favor for a while now, and she was quite ready for something to break in and make waves.

Abruptly her phone started to ring, a shrill tone she hadn't heard all that often. With a small jump, she whipped it out of her pocket and looked at the display, feeling uneasy to see "NUMBER BLOCKED" greeting her. Yin immediately leaned in, frowning.

"Riddler again?" she asked, sounding tense. Guen shook her head carefully, skin going clammy as she gripped the phone.

"No, he uses specially programmed burn phones, from what I understand," she answered, giving another start when the shrill tone sounded again. She glanced to the detective, who gave a slow nod and mouthed "speaker" before glancing at the other women and making shushing gestures. Swallowing nervously, Guen's hand hovered over the speaker function as she accepted the call. "Hello?" she answered in what she hoped was pleasant-sounding confusion, turning on the speakerphone. There was a pause and then the last voice she was expecting greeted her.

"Salutations, Miss Pendragon!"

Her spine went rigid as her feathers spread out, and Wraith switched places with her almost reflexively.

"Anarky," she said tensely. "Why are you calling? How the hell did you get my number? What do you want?"

All around the table the others tensed, their expressions going dark, and Yin tossed her a questioning look she ignored.

"My, you're so chatty today," Anarky didn't sound at all daunted. "Your dangerously attractive voice is a delight as always, Wraith. Do you care for me to answer your questions in any specific order?"

She opened and shut her mouth a couple of times, dumbstruck at his blatant attempts at flirting with her. Man, he doesn't give up. Guess I've got to give him credit for persistence.

Taking another second to compose herself she replied, "Second question. How the hell did you get my number?"

"Trade secret," he replied, infuriatingly cheerful.

"That's not an answer!" she snapped.

"It is, just simply one you don't care for," he shot back smoothly. "And I believe I already told you before what I want."

She frowned. That alliance you spoke of, I know, she said to herself. She still didn't quite understand why he played up the flirtation, and whether or not he could really lead her to Arty Pendragon's killer, but he seemed to believe he could. On that at least she was still considering giving him a chance. Not to mention someone would have to keep Gary in line if the robotics expert agreed to that alliance too.

There was of course, one last question she wanted answered.

"So then why exactly are you calling? I doubt you just want a casual chat so we can flirt," she demanded testily.

"No, I'm afraid we'll have to postpone that, lovely as it sounds," he replied smoothly, his tone indicating he was quite interested. "I'm in something of a dilemma, you see. Impulsive behavior often has some… chaotic consequences." He paused for a moment, possibly to allow her a chance to comment, but when she wasn't forthcoming with an opinion he resumed speaking. "I took it upon myself to liberate a sizable missile from one of the Joker's safehouses."

Wraith's eyes widened. There was no way he was serious…

"What?!" Yin demanded in a steely voice as her nostrils flared. Wraith stiffened, suppressing a frustrated exhale.

"And finally the detective chimes in!" Anarky said. He sounded about as eager as a kid waiting up on Christmas Eve for Santa.

"Only a madman would steal an air-to-surface missile!" she practically roared in response.

"Tsk, tsk, tsk," Anarky clicked his tongue. "So quick to judge the actions of another. Thinking like that, it's small wonder the police have been reduced to trained lap dogs serving a corrupt chain of power. Besides, weren't you listening? The Joker had it stashed in one of his bolt-holes."

"Then I amend my previous statement," Yin growled. "Only a madman steals from another madman, especially that madman!"

"Mad I may be," he replied, "but that's beside my current point. You see, I was hoping Miss Pendragon would help me reign in my impulse control and decide exactly what I'm doing with this thing."

Wraith made a small noise of shock. He wanted her to help him make a decision about a weapon, and one he stole from Joker at that? Last she checked she was only ever the decisive one for Guen, and even that was something she had struggled with as of late. What was this guy thinking? Was he thinking, for that matter?

"My help? You want my help," she said flatly. "Are you serious?"

"Quite," he replied. "Sorry to be a bother, but I was hoping you would consent to meeting me in person to decide exactly what I'm going to do with this thing."

All seven of the women exchanged suspicious glances. The same unpleasant possibility had sprung to mind for each of them, but it would be unwise to voice it with Anarky listening in. Wraith drummed her fingers against the surface of the table, trying to organize her thoughts.

"Why in-person?" she asked cautiously. "We're talking over the phone like, right now."

"A valid point," he agree. "But how can you tell just over a phone conversation that I'm taking anything you say to heart? It's all too easy to fake sincerity when one only has a voice to go off of. For all you know, I could be trying to figure out how to arm this missile as we speak."

"So basically you guarantee nothing unless I'm right there with you," Wraith said dryly, speaking mostly to prevent Yin from making any unhelpful remarks.

"I don't guarantee anything even then," Anarky replied smoothly. "Where would the fun in that be?"

"By that logic," Yin snapped, jumping in regardless of Wraith's attempts to signal her to shut up, "she may as well just hang up and do nothing!"

" 'The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing'," Anarky declared. "The ball is in your court."

"Hold on just a second," Wraith said, switching the phone to mute for a few seconds as she digested his words. Slowly she turned and frowned at Yin, who scowled back. "Don't you get what he's saying, Yin? If I don't go talk him out of whatever the hell he's thinking about doing, then he's definitely going to do it. If I do go, then we have a shot at maybe convincing him to surrender the missile to the police."

Yin's eyebrows narrowed even further. "Taking a bit of a gamble on that, aren't you? You do get that you'd be walking right into a trap, Pendragon."

"I don't think we really have a lot of choice here if you want to keep your city safe, do we detective?"

"No," Yin replied, standing back and crossing her arms with a grim resolve. "Just wanted to be sure we were on the same page."

Wraith nodded, attempting a humorless smile as a look of understanding passed between them. There had never been a moment of doubt in either of their minds about the end course of action. This sparked the sudden realization for the winged rogue that this was how they worked together. This was what a criminal informant and their handler did, how they would take on cases as a team. Once again the idea of possibly staying on with the G.C.P.D. after her probationary period was over didn't sound half-bad.

"But Wraith—!" Erin protested. Wraith glanced at her, promptly looking away without meeting her eyes, and unmuted the phone.

"Sorry, had to deliberate for a second," she said loudly. After another second of silence she asked, "You still there?"

"Oh yes, I quite understand," he answered. "However, since the opportunity presents itself, I have a stipulation to add on. You're not allowed to bring any of your lady friends along for the trip."

"What?!" Akira barked in outrage.

"Bugger! How did he know?!" Vanessa hissed. Erin paled and clamped her mouth shut while May leaned in, her face thunderous. Ink shifted in her seat and glared at the phone, the black fluid beginning to pump alarmingly fast from her right eye. Wraith looked around at all of them, skin feeling clammy as she tried to think fast. These were her closest friends, who had already proved time and again they had her back.

And as she realized that, her decision was made.

"Alright, deal," she said, and promptly ignoring the scandalized protests, she added, "But Detective Yin is my handler. If she wants to shadow me with a full squadron, that's out of my hands, pal."

"Now that I have no objections to," he said. "The G.C.P.D. is predictable like that anyway, so I doubt it could be avoided. Shall I take it then that you're ready to come find me and chat face-to-face?"

"Psh, I was born ready."

"Then I'll text you the details. See you soon, Wraith."

A second later the call ended and a tense quiet descended around the table. Wraith kept her eyes on the phone, waiting for the inevitable lecture to burst out of someone. Finally it was Akira who erupted.

"Woman, does bein' pregnant make you stupid? I know ya'll cray-cray but seriously?! The hell, Wraith?!" she snapped. Making a wild gesture at Yin, she added, "Sherlock's got it right, you're probably takin' bait! This smells like it's got 'trap' written all over it!"

"Sherlock?" Yin muttered as Wraith said, "Yeah, so?"

" 'So'?" Nessa echoed, half-choking in disbelief. "You're pregnant, mate. That's what. You go charging in there, you're risking serious injury."

"I'll be careful," Wraith protested a little defensively. "Hell, I'll leave Guen in charge; you know she'll be cautious."

"That's not all there is to it, though," Ink said, sounding rather grim and on-edge. "The last time you walked into a trap like this…"

She fell quiet and the mood was infectious. Everyone knew what had happened the last time Guen decided to willingly walk into a situation she knew was a trap. And Wraith knew better than anyone else; it was the lastthing she wanted to be reminded of. Her shoulders hiked up, going level with her ears as her wings started to unfurl, the feathers spreading wide.

Don't think about it, Guen murmured at the back of her thoughts. I don't want to remember. Not here, not while we're in relative safety. I don't want to break down. We can't afford to be that vulnerable, not yet.

Wraith was starting to ready a response when her phone gave a small chime with an incoming test. Unnerving as it was to see no origin number for the message, the distraction came as a relief. She made a mental note to thank Anarky for his timing later before she stopped to consider the matter.

"I promise all of you that I won't let anything happen to Pendragon," Yin said stoutly as Wraith's eyes scanned over the address in the text without totally processing it.

"Oh right," Nessa muttered, looking unimpressed. "Forgot the standard-issue babysitter."

"You five aren't allowed to tag along, remember?" Yin said firmly as her eyes swept over the others. "You could jeopardize the entire thing. I'll make sure she's safe. It's my duty, not yours. You may be her friends, but I'm an officer, and her personal handler."

Wraith had to resist the urge to roll her eyes at this. Frankly she didn't think Vanessa's remark was too far removed from the reality of the situation. She half-expected one of her friends to immediately argue the point, yet was relieved when May spoke up, deceptively calm in a resigned way.

"You know what, ladies? She's right."

"What?!" The squawk of indignation came from Akira, who whirled about to face her older friend. "You ain't serious—!"

"The detective has spoken. Besides, you heard Anarky's terms," May said, spreading her hands helplessly. "Officially we can't do anything. Officially, our hands are tied."

Wraith watched quietly, impressed yet again with her friend's poker face. You had to hand it to May Markowitz, she was a professional. Glancing between her other friends, the winged woman caught the small glints of comprehension that rapidly gave way to uniform, vacant stares. In Erin's case a vague smile accompanied the stare, and Wraith was willing to bet she was already cooking up an idea of some sort. Still it almost seemed too obvious and surely Yin was bound to notice the exchange. Thankfully though, Ness and Akira played the part well and made a few more emphatic protests for show.

"Sorry girls," Wraith sighed, shrugging with both her shoulders and her wings. "Maybe next time."

"We'll see about that." Yin grumbled crossly as she started to head back to her car. "Come on, Pendragon. Let's get that address plugged into the GPS; we don't have any time to waste."

This time she did roll her eyes. Pushing away from the table, she rose from her chair and tossed the others a wink on the sly. "I'll talk to you all afterward."

"Of course," Erin said in her dreamiest voice. "We'll all be having a cuppa at the tea shop."

Translation, they would be lying in wait, pulling a "crouching tiger, hidden dragon" a la lady rogues. Wraith exchanged a small nod with Ink and allowed herself a quick smirk before trotting off after Yin. She was just a couple of feet behind the detective when the other woman addressed her.

"Don't think I didn't catch any of that little interchange," Yin warned. "Markowitz is smooth, but I don't think the lot of you give me credit for my career. Besides that, the two younger girls are practically open books, and don't fool yourself that I'm not keeping an eye on Knightly, either."

"Oh good, that'll probably make her entire week," Wraith remarked, grinning. "Erin gets pretty freakin' skeeved when people don't take her seriously, so she'll be flattered to hear that."

Yin tossed her a flat glare but before either of them got another word in, Guen's cell phone rang again. This time it was a rather familiar ringtone, one that stopped Wraith in her tracks. She whipped the cell back out to frown down at it and Yin slowed her stride, looking over her shoulder at the ringing device.

"Sounds like someone's eager to get his two cents in," she said with a bit of a snort as Wraith swiped to accept the call.

"Hello?" she greeted cautiously. Truthfully she wanted to ask something along the lines of "why the frick-frack diddly-whack are you calling", but she had a feeling that wouldn't be well-received. She waited for an answer and realized with a jolt of mild repugnance she could hear the Riddler breathing through his nose as he suppressed his temper.

"Tell me Guen, I'm curious about your recent phone call," he said testily. "What was that about?"

She was ready to sharply correct him with the reminder that she was Wraith and he ought to know the difference between her and Guen by now. However, her suspicion and annoyance at his demand made its way out first.

"How do you know about that?" she asked coolly.

"Answer the question, Guen," he ordered, adding in a slightly more polite tone, "Please."

"You first," she said, holding back a growl. That weak little apology he tacked on was an afterthought; she was willing to put money on that. "Did you decide to bug my phone too? Didn't want the G.C.P.D. to be all alone in that hobby?"

"Hacked it," he answered dismissively. "Who were you talking to? We were only able to patch into the last minute and a half of the call. Who was that? What did he want from you?"

For a second she seethed quietly. Of all the nerve—! What right did he have? This was borderline creepy and completely uncomfortable. What, was he going to come up with the excuse that he was a worried helicopter boyfriend or something? Fine. He wanted to play this game? Then she would make him sweat.

"Just someone who's approached me before to talk about possibly becoming allies," she said nonchalantly.

"So you think you'll just bring someone into the fold without consulting me first?" he demanded. "This is my syndicate, Guen."

"Which is of course, why it's not necessary to consult me at all on everyone that you've brought on," she said, careful to put the edge of implied accusation into her words. "Besides, I never said he wanted an alliance with you or your syndicate. I said he's approached me. He's never once mentioned more beyond me becoming his ally or partner or whatever."

The silence was thick as her words sank in. Finally the Riddler managed a strained, "Oh. Really?"

"Yeah. He called about something totally different this time—"

"This time? He's called you more than once?"

"This is actually the first time he's called," she clarified. "Previously he's just shown up in-person whenever he fancies it."

"In-person," Ed's voice hissed out through his teeth as he parroted her. "Who is he?"

"Don't worry," she replied in a sweetly dismissive voice of her own. "Detective Yin and I are taking care of this. It's a case now."

"Guen—" he started to say, but she moved the phone away from her ear and ended the call. Blowing her breath out in exasperation, she looked up to find Yin staring at her with raised brows.

"What?" she asked irritably.

"Somehow I doubt that was the best way to carry the conversation," Yin remarked, folding her arms. "Sounds to me like the two of you have some issues to work out in your relationship."

Are you happy, Guen?

How do you know Nygma is your Lancelot and not your Arthur?

"Yeah?" Wraith snarled. "Tell me something I don't know." Huffing, she stomped past the detective and straight to the car. After a second she called back loudly, "Well? You coming with, or what? No time to waste, remember?"