Chapter 11: Lines in the Sand

Amanda Waller had, in her opinion, spent too much time recently trying to break into homes that had been sealed by local authorities for evidence gathering. However, she felt quite certain that with the Central City gang flying around and concerns over the health of Wonder Woman, this was the best time to go to Kyle Weston's house and remove anything that might link him to Cadmus without attracting any attention from the Justice League. She should have done it before, since Weston had been too terrified to return once he had joined Luthor and had basically moved into his lab, but she hadn't.

Live and learn.

The police had clearly been through the place looking for insight on who murdered him but any financial records they would have taken didn't bother her. There was no way that the police would be able to locate Cadmus through the direct deposit records at his bank. And however Luthor was paying him was Luthor's problem.

She spent several hours going through paperwork, calendars and other items for any reference to her or Cadmus. She found one date book from when he was first hired that had an appointment listed for "A. Waller – Starbucks on 8th" but that was it. It was easy enough to obscure the name. Satisfied that her tracks were covered, she left.

When she looked back on the event years later, after everything that would come to pass between her and the Justice League, she still would have sworn that she had been alone in Weston's residence the entire time.

She would be wrong.

She had never been alone.

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Flash, because of his long-time connection with Central City, quickly went to work emptying civilians out of the bank while Diana began to hunt Mirror Master. The people trusted him more and responded faster to him. Besides, Wonder Woman's rage had been so palpable from the moment she materialized that Flash had been more than happy to let her take it out on Mirror Master.

She slammed open the entrance to the bank in a style that called to mind both a gunslinger at a saloon and an avenging angel entering the gates of hell. The bank lobby was empty but she heard the sounds of looting a distance away and quickly covered the distance. She found Mirror Master using his sonic scream to shatter the vault door. He had managed to crack the door and Wonder Woman knew that a few more blasts would open it.

"Mirror Master," she shouted to get his attention. She didn't want to sneak up on him, although it would have been easy enough.

Without ending his scream, he turned towards her. The force of the blast pushed her back several feet, but she regained her footing and began walking towards him. The scream stopped abruptly when she punched him in the jaw. He flew several feet down the hallway but was becoming comfortable enough with flying that he quickly turned back towards her.

The fight began in midair. Diana felt her blood sing with excitement at the battle. Mirror Master was more efficient at hand-to-hand combat than Diana thought, which only energized her more.

The kicks and punches went on for several minutes with Diana clearly getting the upper hand. However, she noticed the Mirror Master was slowly losing altitude and she didn't think he was doing it on purpose. Realizing he was losing his powers, she delivered a knock-out kick when he was only a few feet off the floor.

Flash arrived in time to see Diana picking an unconscious Mirror Master off the bank floor. He noticed that while she didn't appear to have exerted herself too much during the fight, the edge was gone from her anger.

"Where do you want him?" she asked.

"Ah, where are the other two?" he asked.

"On the roof of the museum. Sleeping it all off."

Flash pursed his lips for a moment as if he was going to ask a follow-up question and then changed his mind.

"Why don't I take him to the police station, you get the other guys and bring them there and we can meet back at the Watchtower."

Diana transferred Mirror Master to Flash and went back to collect the other two.

But she knew what her next step was.

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Superman met Diana at the transporter pad when she materialized in the Watchtower. He smiled, but only slightly, when he saw her.

"Good work with the Central City group," he said lightly.

"Flash back then," she asked.

"Yup. Batman called in for coordinates. You want to fill me in on what happened? I haven't heard him like that in, well, a very long time."

"Like what?" Diana asked, curious as to her friend's take.

"Not sure how to put it. The mood always makes me think of that line about 'all hell followed with him.' Reminded me why we call him the 'Dark Knight.'"

"I really don't know," she answered, shaking her head. "Something about the virus seemed to set him off."

Superman looked at her as if he was seeing her for the first time. "This is because of you?"

She frowned. "No, I don't think so."

Superman looked at her, still considering. He was about to say something when J'onn's voice came over their communicators.

"The warehouse where Kyle Weston's lab was housed is on fire."

Wonder Woman and Superman both looked at each other, the same question on their mind: who started the fire?

Superman headed towards the transporter. "I'll go down there and see what is going on. You check in with J'onn about the virus. I'll call you if I need you. But someone needs to start giving me some answers!"

Diana watched him go with a small frown. She really didn't think she had any answers for him.

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The door swooshed open in the medical bay of the Watchtower. J'onn sensed it was Diana but did not look up from his equipment.

"So, is there a virus or not?" she asked. The words were softened by her tone, which was one of exhaustion.

"I see no evidence of one," he said, still looking at the readings. The Martian had checked everything four times and the conclusion was always the same.

Diana's face was blank and her voice was flat. "So, it was all a trick?"

J'onn looked sympathetically at her. "I suspect it was a ruse to distract us. The fire in the lab only adds to my suspicion. I think the experiment was a failure but the attack by the Central City gang and your 'virus' were to serve as distractions while the organizers covered their tracks."

She looked at him as the realization he was probably right spread over her.

"That fits the facts better than anything else," she said quietly.

"Indeed," he said.

She smiled at him. She didn't know why but this somehow seemed like good news to her.

"Thank you, J'onn," she said as she walked out of the medical bay.

He smiled back at her. "Of course."

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Superman joined the fire crews put out the fire in the warehouse, but by the time the fire was under control, it was clear that nothing useful would be recovered from inside.

He sighed internally. He was frustrated but was quite sure that the feeling was going to get worse before it improved.

He waved at the fire crew as he took to the air. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw movement in the shadows on the roof of the building next door. In less than a second, he positioned himself so he was standing in front of Batman.

"Did you find anything useful?" Superman asked him.

There was no answer, but Superman could sense the rage pouring off the Dark Knight.

"Why don't we just call this day what it is, a disaster, and regroup at the Watchtower and decide what to do next?"

"I have work to do," Batman snarled. "And then I have patrol. The Watchtower will have to live without me until tomorrow at the earliest."

Batman's watch alarm chirped. The Dark Knight quickly deactivated it. Superman arched an eyebrow – the question obvious but not asked.

More silence from Batman.

Superman decided to play his one card. "Do you want me to call about the virus or do you want to?"

"I have no idea what you are talking about."

But you do. I just don't know what it means, the Man of Steel thought.

"Okay," he said out loud.

Batman was clearly considering something during the following silence. Then, he pulled out a thin manila envelope and handed it to Superman.

"You might want to let Luthor know that we know what's in here," he said darkly.

"What's in here?" Superman asked.

"Weston's lab notes. Read the margins," he answered and, throwing a batarang, left Superman alone on the rooftop.

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Traditionally, Amanda Waller did paperwork after normal business hours. The building quieted down and she could focus. And that way, the completed forms could be in her assistant's box when she arrived the next morning and complete the steps to process it.

She would kick her shoes off, get a fresh cup of coffee and start on the work. Once the paperwork was done, usually the stresses of the day had disappeared. Or, at least, substantially diminished.

She was working on a collection of office supply requisitions when the hairs on the back of her neck stood up.

She was not alone.

"Cadmus, I presume," came a deep, menacing voice.

Amanda looked up but saw only shadow where the voice had come. She slowly moved her hand towards her desk drawer. Before she could pull on the handle and access her gun, she heard the thick thud of metal hit the floor followed by the jingle of bullets.

"Clever," she said. Her hands were shaking but she kept it out of her voice.

It was then from the shadows she saw two white eyes. She admitted to herself she was terrified but then the acknowledgement of who it must be registered.

"Batman," she said mockingly. "I really didn't think it would take you this long to find me."

There was silence. Batman did not move.

"I guess this is the point where I threaten Wonder Woman again," she said lightly. She wasn't sure what his intentions were but she was willing to play along, at least for a while.

More silence.

"Oh, come out of the shadows and let's talk. I admit it. I'm impressed and I am frightened."

He did. She watched the imposing figure emerge silently from the shadows. He seemed to disappear into his cape. Somehow, even under the office light, he wasn't any less frightening.

"Why?" he asked simply.

She hadn't expected that question. She considered for a moment and then decided to tell the truth.

"If the League decides to go rouge, there is not a thing in the world we are going to be able to do about it," she said. "That is unacceptable."

Batman nodded. "But if your projects go rouge?"

"We build in control devices to prevent that," she answered quickly.

He said nothing but she felt that his momentary understanding was lost.

"Like five hours to cardiac arrest?" he said, bitterly, after a moment.

"No. Weston never did provide a working serum. That is not what I wanted. Besides, I heard the crew from Central City are all still among us. I suppose you had something to do with that? Found your own control device, did you?"

More silence.

"I came to tell you I know what you are doing. I know where the money is coming from and I know what happens to your 'failed projects.' I will be watching. Step over the line again and there will be consequences."

He backed into the shadows and although Waller watched him do it, he suddenly disappeared.

"And if you harm any member of the Justice League as part of a project, you will get an extremely personal look at what happens when members of the League 'go rouge.'"

And suddenly, she was alone again, trembling.