See, I'm doing pretty good! Oh yeah, announcement! I previously said that this takes plave in Novemeber 2015, but I kind of changed that, so there are a little corrections to be make. It's DECEMBER instead, which means Cody is now 22, not 21. Sorry about that! Anyways, that's all. Please enjoy and review!

Storygirl99210 - Aw, thank you. And it's good to be back. Like I said, I feel really bad that it's been so long.
StillDoll13 - Look, I'm doing really well. Guardianship and Singed! Yay! And yeah, setting up for a whole lot of stuf here. Oh, you're still going to have to wait and see how they'll react to finding out.
SinistrousDelirious - Yeah, the breakout takes place here, but it's not in great detail. That'll be in Conley's story.

Chapter 6
Gifts

Cody should have known that she wouldn't have any time to herself. Instead of arriving to an empty bedroom where she could finally just lay down and do nothing for an hour or so, Cody found Erik standing outside of her door, waiting with a package under his arm. She was leaning against the door, one foot on the wall while the other was on the ground, holding him up. One of his hands was shoved into his pocket while the other held the package in place.

The young woman rolled her green eyes as she approached. "What do you want, Erik?" she asked.

"Where have you been? I've been waiting here for ten minutes," he complained.

"Lucas needed to take some blood from the Probie," Cody said. "I went and brought her to him."

"Whatever," he said with a roll of his eyes. "Here." He tossed the package to Cody, who caught it with ease. "Get changed. We've got a meeting with Master's associate in about fifteen minutes."

"What is it?" Cody asked, looking at the package.

"New uniform," Erik said. "Master thought you should have a new one, impress his friend or something."

Cody went into her room followed closely by Erik. Cody looked at the package a little closer to see that the tape on the side that held the paper together was torn. She glared up at Erik. "You opened it." It wasn't a question.

"Yeah, I wanted to see what it looked like," he said. "And I have to say, Master's got a little perverted mind. He had to have known that outfit would make you look smokin' hot. Maybe that was the goal. He did say he was having us work with his associate's son. Maybe he's trying to go into the pimping business."

"Oh, shut up," Cody said, throwing the wrapper at the guy.

Cody pulled out the uniform and held it out in front of her. Well, there's not a whole lot of fabric, is there? Cody thought, looking at the dark material. Maybe there's more when it's on. It could just be because I'm holding it.

Cody took off her jacket and tossed it on the bed, leaving her in her tank top and jeans. She would have continued undressing, but leaning against her desk was Erik, still standing there, watching her intensely. "What are you still doing in here?" she asked.

"Watching you change, of course," he said as if it was rather obvious.

"Get out!" Cody said, rolling her eyes.

"Aw, come on! I deserve a treat every once in a while, right?" Erik asked, walking right up behind the girl. He wrapped his arms around her waist from behind and kissed her neck. Cody squirmed. "Hold still," he said before biting down on her neck, almost drawing blood.

"Get off," she warned.

"Make me," he said, moving to her ear.

"You asked for it," she growled.

Cody brought her elbow back, hitting him in the stomach. He huffed, letting his grasp on her slip. Cody spun around and brought her knee up and hit him in a spot she knew would make him very mad and would cause him a lot of pain. She had hit him a lot harder than she had intended too, but she didn't really care. He had bit her. Fair trade, in her books. At least for Erik, it was.

Cody grabbed his short hair and dragged him out of her room, throwing him into the hallway. He hit the wall and fell to the floor, groaning as he held his groan. Cody just rolled her eyes and turned back into her room. She slammed the door shut and made sure it was locked before going back over to her new uniform.

After slipping it on, Cody looked at herself in the mirror. The dark blue material didn't really suit her all that well, in her mind. The kimono looked almost exactly like her old one, except it was a deep blue. The belt was black and very simple. She slipped in her fighting fan and her old feather to be held there, but didn't put anything else there. She strapped another watch, one that looked exactly the same as the one she had given Conley, onto her wrist in place of the old one. A very simple domino mask was placed on her face, covering her eyes completely. The short kimono was just that, extremely short. She worse a short pair of spandex under it to prevent Erik or anybody else from getting a show when she fought.

The outfit clung to her body, showing off the womanly curves she had grown into while she was in captivity. The dark color made her skin look even paler than she was. Not that she was tan, in any sense. She barely ever left the facility. It also showed off her legs extremely well. Cody had to admit that she really did look good in it.

Her red and black Phoenix uniform was a lot better, but there was no way for her to go back to wearing that uniform. At least this one was a lot better than the all black, shapeless uniform. It was better than nothing, she supposed.

With one last look in the mirror, Cody thought, I really hope he's not trying to be a pimp. Cody turned out of the room and out into the hallway. Erik was still there.

"You're such a bitch," he groaned.

"Yeah, yeah," she said. She pulled him up by the arm and helped him walk down the hallways towards Master's meeting room. "It's not the first time I've ever heard that. Definitely not going to be the last. Especially from you."

Erik took that opportunity to wrap his arm around her shoulder. He was pretending to need assistance walking. Cody knew exactly what he was trying to do. Does he think I'm stupid? Cody rolled her eyes and quickly ducked as they entered the meeting room. As she did this, the weight Erik was putting into her made him lose his balance from the sudden loss of support. He stumbled to the side.

Angrily, he swung at the girl, but missed. That was the only shot he got in, though, seeing as they had were now in the presence of the rest of the rest of the assassins, Master and his associate, or associate's son. Cody stood in the back of the group, trying to blend in and just listen to what was going on, unlike Erik, who went over to Rich and started talking.

Master was standing in front of the group of assassins with a tall man in a black armor. On his head was a disc-shaped helmet with two large, daunting red eyes. There were small tubes that connected the back of the head to the shoulders. The hands of the suit were webbed; the suit also sported fins on the back of the legs. She could tell that there were little slots that could raise up and shoot.

Cody had never seen a suit like that before. She had seen some odd looking suits in her line of work. The one that the man was wearing wasn't the weirdest one she had ever seen, but it wasn't the most subtle either.

"It is good to see you again," Master said, bowing slightly to the man.

That shocked the young woman. Cody had never seen Master bow to anyone. Ever. Whoever this guy was, Master was either really grateful to him, or he wanted something from him. That was how Master normally worked.

"That you for seeing me on such short notice," the man said.

Cody's posture straightened as a shiver ran up her spin. That voice…she thought. He sounds so familiar. Where have I heard that voice before? She couldn't place it, but she knew she had heard him speak before. That deep, dark, almost brooding voice was almost intoxicating though. That mixed with the familiarity, Cody really wanted him to go on speaking. She wanted, no, needed to figure out who he was. Otherwise she'd drive herself crazy.

Or crazier than she already was.

"Anything for your father, young one," Master said. "He has brought it to my attention that you wish for some assistance. Some skilled, strong fighters to work under you. Is that correct?"

"It is," he said. "I was informed that you have some of the strongest assassins, competing only with the League of Shadows." He took several steps around the man and studied the assassins before him. She missed Cody standing in the back. She saw him stop and stare at Erik. "Before I started working with my father, I had several dealings with your students," he admitted. "They were formidable."

"Just as they have been trained," Master said. "I took the liberty of speaking to three of my strongest already. They are very willing to do whatever it is deemed fit for them."

"That is very generous of you," the name said. "Who shall be accompanying me?

"My three best; Erik, Rich and Ember." Master turned to the assassins and motioned for them to step forward.

Erik and Rich were already right in front, but Cody had to make her way around the rest of the group to take up a spot next to Erik. The three of them bowed politely to the armored man before rising up to get a closer up look at him. It wasn't until Cody was right in front of him that she noticed how tall he really was.

He examined Rich, then Erik before finally stopping right in front of Cody. He took quite a while looking at her. Or, she thought he was looking at her. It was almost impossible to know exactly what he was looking at with that helmet of his on his head, covering his eyes. He moved his hand to the girl's face and moved it up so he could get a better look at her face.

Oh, I really hope this isn't the pimp situation, Cody thought.

Cody's long brown hair fell off of her shoulders as her head was tilted up. She didn't smile. Her expression stayed the same as it always was when she was in front of Master and the others (except when she was angry at Erik and Rich). She was just a puppet, in that instant.

"Are you pleased with them, Manta?" Master asked.

So, he goes by Manta, Cody thought, looking up into the red lensed eyes of the helmet, trying desperately to see the eyes of the name before her. I don't know anybody by the name of Manta. This Manta was looking at the white slots where her eyes were covered by the mast, also trying to see her eyes. I know you. How do I know you?

"What is your name?" he asked, ignoring Master.

There was a lump in Cody's throat that she hadn't been aware of before that moment. "They call me Ember," she answered. She had almost said Cody, but in the last second, she remembered that they had given her a codename. Master wouldn't have been very pleased if she had told them her name was Cody, so she was rather glad she had used the alias.

"Ember is a new recruit," Master told him. "She has been training with us for a couple years now, and has recently shown great loyalty and success in the field when given a task to perform."

Manta seemed hesitant to turn away from Cody, but eventually did and walked back over to Master. He paid no more attention to the assassin students in the room. "They will suffice," he told the older man. "I expect them to be ready to depart i-"

An alarm interrupted his sentence. Everybody looked up at the ceiling, listening to the alarm. A moment later someone's voice came onto the speakers announcing, "Prisoner escape. Prisoner escape. Initiating lockdown. Initiating lockdown."

"It appears you are in the middle of something," Manta said.

"My apologies, young one," Master said. "Will you allow me some time before you depart with my students? It appears that I require them for one last task."

"Yes," he said. "I shall take my leave now. Have them ready to go when you are finished. Send them to my craft."

"Yes, thank you," Master said. Master waited until his associate's son was gone before quickly turning to his students and yelling, "What is the meaning of this?"

A worker ran in through the hallway and up to Master. He quickly informed him that Conley was gone. While that was happening, Cody looked down at her watch. Conley, if she had made it on time, would have already been out of the building. She would be out taking shelter somewhere in the city.

Everything was going according to plan.

Master turned to his students, and with a look that Cody had never seen before, almost growled. "I want all of you, except the three who will be accompanying Black Manta's son to go out and search for our recruit. Do not come back until you find her." Nobody moved. Even the assassins were shocked to see that look on his face. "Go!"

Everybody except the three he had mentioned bolted out of there to go and look for the young teenage girl. Cody was worried that the others would find her. She had every confidence in Conley's abilities though. She wasn't just some girl they plucked off the streets. She was trained by Carson. She knew what she was doing.

"I want the three of you to search, but be back here in an hour. If the three of you don't find her, I don't believe that the others will be able to at all," Master said. "Go!"

Erik and Rich turned and ran from the room, excited for a hunt. Cody bowed first before heading out. Once outside, everybody was split up to search for the escapee. Cody picked a random direction, one that if she were in Conley's position, she would have run to. The girl ran on top of rooftops, looking down at the streets and alleys below for any sign of the brunette.

Cody almost passed right over her, too, except there had been a cat screech out in the night, catching her attention. The green eyes woman stepped back, looking down into the alley before noticing a bundle of brown hair sticking up behind a dumpster. Cody rolled her eyes and jumped down. She slowly walked up behind the girl and placed her hand over her mouth, preventing her from screaming out.

"Shhh," Cody said, "it's just me."

She slowly let the girl go, but not before ducking them down so that nobody could see them. Cody waited a minute, looking down at her watch. She had been searching for almost forty-five minutes. She had to go back to the facility soon to pack.

"Did you get out okay? Not too much trouble?" Cody asked.

Conley shook her head, a red blush on her cheeks. "Could have gone better, but I'm out, right?" The blush was gone after a moment. "How'd you find me?"

"Dumb luck," she answered.

Conley chuckled softly. "I thought you were going to say some ancient ninja voodoo stuff," she said.

"Nonsense," Cody said. "We don't do voodoo."

"Right, no, that'd be silly."

"I have some additional information," Cody finally said.

"Yay, more to remember," Conley mumbled under her breath.

"Erik, Rich and I – they call me Ember, we're being leased out to an associate of Master. Someone by the name of Manta," Cody said. "You'll have to let them know that, okay? I have a feeling it's important."

"Okay, I will," she said.

"Good," Cody said. "I have to make my way back to the facility. Just be carefully and keep out of sight. I don't think the others will be out much longer, but I'd suggest waiting until the sun comes out to do the majority of your traveling. We don't come out during the day as much as night."

"Good advice," Conley said.

"Okay, I'll see you around, Probie," Cody said. Cody got up and jumped up to a fire escape above their heads.

"Cody?" Conley asked, before she was out of earshot. Cody looked down at the girl on last time, waiting for her to go on. "Be careful," she said.

Cody gave a small smile. "You too, Conley. Don't get yourself into too much trouble."

With that, Cody made her way out of the alley and back to the facility.

xXx

Cody had been right when she thought that the rest of the assassins wouldn't be out there much longer. When Cody, Erik and Rich made it back to the facility it, the rest of the group was called back too. It was a lot sooner than she thought, but she had been right, nonetheless. At least Conley was out there safe.

After they returned, the three being leased out were sent to pack their things. Cody didn't really have much to take. She could fit all of her things into that black bag that Lucas had given back to her a couple weeks prior. Cody left the Phoenix uniform in there, and everything that had originally been in the bag. She put the ring Kaldur had given her and the necklace Dick had in there, as well as the simple, black uniform her used to have to wear. There were several sets of civilian closes. Lastly were just simple toiletries.

Once she was done, Cody met up with the other two that would be departing with her and Master. He had one last thing to say to them before they headed out. Master stood in front of them for quite a while, very lost in though. The three of them could tell

"You three," he said. "Let me make myself clear, if I hear of anything going wrong while you are with my associate and I suspect that it is you that are at fault, I will not hesitate to terminate you." He walked straight up to Cody and asked, "Do I make myself clear?"

"Transparently," Cody answered.

"Boys?" he asked, not looking away from the masked girl.

"Yes," they both answered, not daring to say anything more. They may have been tough, but even they were afraid of Master.

"Go," he instructed.

They didn't have to be told twice.