This took some time getting done, I apologize. But I was forced to once again save the world! Of course he was……….okay, craziness is over. I am, as always, extremely grateful to those who have reviewed, namely; Cartoonfire, Korgeta, Kilpe the lazy man, True-Blackfire, Tefren, Tennisgal456, Crimson Black, Gepsman, The Joker, Arkham Boy, Skyler-A-Teloiv, xStarfirexRobinxo. On with the story!

Chapter Three

Geisha House

Bell and Chang both left the chamber and the lights dimmed but remained on, a low hum indicated that power was indeed still running.

Within the craft, suspended in metabolic stasis, a slender hand twitched and almost sprang to life.

Despite Kory's unceasing offers to fly them to their destination, Richard insisted that two people flying through the air was not what one would call inconspicuous. They rode in Richard's car down a familiar street. He glanced at her downtrodden face as she stared out the window.

"I'm sorry; I keep forgetting how much you enjoy it."

"Well, I should remember that your people do not routinely fly without the aid of technology," replied Kory. "Still it would be nice if we could-"

"Tell you what," said Richard. "This weekend, because we're kind of busy right now, what with murders and all, I will take you to a pond that's down this path I know of in the woods." Kory drew her eyes away from the outside world and to Richard. They showed with keen interest. "There's supposed to be a full moon soon, I promise we'll fly until you hate it."

"Richard, you do promise?!" She asked happily.

He smirked. "Isn't that what I just said?" She playfully beat him off the arm. Despite her best efforts to mind her strength Richard still held in a painful yelp. Her posture was now quite jubilant and excited; in fact she couldn't help but bounce slightly in her seat.

"Could we also….bring a prepared meal?"

"Ahhhh, you wanna do this picnic style huh?" Kory nodded with a wide smile. "We can do that, I suppose. Oh there it is…" They reached the end of a long driveway and there stood Richard's home, rebuilt and looking better than ever. He stopped the car and they stepped out. He cocked his head up at the sight of it. "Hmm, you never would guess that it was once under alien attack."

"It is a glorious sight," hummed Kory. "As friend Logan has explained to me, I now get dibbs that are fist for my room!"

"Yea-wait-What?!" She giggled mischievously and flew up into an open window on the second floor. "Okay, that flying thing is seriously unfair," Richard mumbled to himself. Out of the corner of his eye he noticed an old man walking up a path out of the forest. Richard recognized him as his curmudgeon trigger happy neighbor. "Woods," said Richard. The old man nodded his head. "Why you look good enough to shoot, how's the dog?"

"Dead." He walked on without another word to Richard. The FBI agent laughed to himself, not missing the viscous pit-bull in the slightest. He let his cane lead the way into his newly rebuilt home. As soon as he entered the all too familiar smell of a new home wandered into his nose. He heard Kory's voice echo through the halls.

"It is a wonder they were able to rebuild it so quickly." Richard stepped up for a closer look on a door hinge, where was stamped the lettering; Gotham Con., Wayne int.. He smiled and nodded.

"Well, when you know people."

Richard soon found out where Kory had called from. He made his way into his former now reacquired room and saw Kory was neatly arranging her clothes into the closet and one of the dressers in the corner. Her moved his eyes over her various piles of stuff and cleared his throat. She looked up and waved at him.

"Oh, hello."

"Hiiii," replied Richard. "What are you doing?"

"I am settling within my quarters," said Kory, as though Richard's question was painfully obvious.

"Uh huh, that's…that's cute. Look Kory, I'm not sure if you remember, but this was my room." She pushed a dresser draw shut and turned to him with a smile.

"I remember, you are welcome to continue using it." He sat down on the bed.

"You wanna move move in with me." Kory blushed something fierce and glided over the bed until she could land beside him. She wanted to lean against Richard, thus Kory deliberately left no space between them. Her hands cloistered one of his. Richard let his defenses fall, and there were quite a few. He gently held up against her full weight on him. She stared at him quite earnestly.

"Yes…" For all of Richard's posturing and self-accolades to the fact that he was untouchable, he now felt powerless. It was the same pleasurable weakness that he felt whenever he was near Barbara. He smiled and held her tighter with an arm draped over her shoulder.

"Sounds good." She let her eyes fall and Kory yawned like a child having just protested to being tired in the first place. The heat in the room and the lighting was just right and caused noticeable drowsiness. She slunk down onto a pillow and drifted off. Richard watched her for a moment, the one who had saved his life……even from himself. Without warning he began to feel his phone vibrating his coat pocket. He carefully sat up off the bed and stepped out of 'their' room. He had received a text message from 'The Man', aka Bruce. It was a concise straight to the point message which read;

Arcturus is ready, get his permission.

"Okay Victor."

"Richard?" He turned. Kory had woken back up from her short lived sleep. Her face held concern. "Is there news on friend Victor?" Richard stowed away his phone.

"Yes."

"Is he recovering?"

"I don't know, that's not the answer I've been waiting for though. Mr. Wayne has people who have been working on something pretty amazing. According to Bruce, it's up and running."

"And it can save friend Victor?" asked Kory. Richard sighed.

"I hope so."

THE NEXT DAY………………..

Just as Richard had said, and Shannon had dreaded, the team traveled to Howard University and specifically to visit the sorority known as Geisha House. Rachael accompanied them this time, at Richard's suggestion but more surreptitiously because of Shannon's insistence. The college campus was a buzz of activity; throngs of students walking, talking, jogging alone or in groups, sitting in groups of study or laziness, as well as a brigade of bicycles parked outside the various buildings. Shannon stood a fair distance away from a moderately sized house bearing the Geisha crest. Compared to several other houses nearby, Geisha House was quite the poster for picture perfect; its lawn was neatly kept, there was no trash on the large porch, there was even gazebo in the backyard. Shannon lowered her head with a dreaded sigh.

"Oh God, do I really have to do this?"

"Yes Shannon you do." Shannon perked her head back up and looked to her right. Richard spoke through a rolled up magazine, magnifying his voice to another volume. He lightly beat it off her forehead. "Don't worry; I won't let the other children make fun of you. Come on." With massive reluctance Shannon walked alongside Richard. She was eager to keep her mind from have to concentrate on why they were actually there.

"Where are Kory and Rachael?"

"Other side of the campus, they're asking subtle questions about your old pals."

"I wouldn't call them 'pals'," muttered Shannon. Richard snorted.

"Okay, please tell me…what is exactly that they did to earn this kind of spite?"

Shannon paused. "It's not what they did; it's what they wanted me to do." Richard nodded; he got the feeling that Shannon's response was purposefully enigmatic. Maybe she was actually hoping he would do what he normally does and figure it out on his own. The two of them walked up the steps of the picturesque house and knocked on the door. Inside they could hear a flurry of activity, thus their knock went completely unnoticed to the occupants. Shannon shook her head and instead rang the doorbell. One set of footsteps walking past the door stopped then changed course. Not a second later, latches were undone and the door was open. Before them was a young, probably a freshmen, brunette. She was a sight to behold though; her face bore white powder and she wore a dress of Japanese design. Her full getup was not quite finished but all the key details were there.

"Can I help you?" she asked.

"I'm Special Agent Richard Grayson, this is Special Agent-"

"Shannon Chan!" the girl exclaimed excitedly. Richard stared oddly at Shannon; she however seemed just as surprised by the girl's greeting. "Oh wow, please come in I-I'll get Mama San." They stepped inside; Richard closed the door behind while Shannon looked about the house. The inside was just as immaculate as the outside. The furniture was highly ornamental with many Japanese themes scattered throughout.

Richard stepped up beside Shannon. "Thought you didn't like these people."

"I don't," replied Shannon.

"People only get tripped up like that over celebrities; she seemed to be a fan of yours."

"I can't imagine why," said Shannon shrugging. "We didn't exactly part on friendly terms." All around them dozens of girls darted from room to room; some of them dressed in Geisha garbs while others followed closely behind with a comb. From the kitchen a senior emerged holding a clip board and followed closely by the girl who had greeted them at the door.

"Hi," said the senior. "I'm Mama-San Marika, this is Martha-San," she said gesturing to the freshmen at her side. "What can I do for you?"

"Is there someplace quiet we can go?" asked Richard.

"Of course, this way please." Shannon glanced back at Martha, the young freshmen giggled and disappeared down the hall. Shannon then skipped ahead to catch up to Richard and Marika. "I hope you'll forgive the commotion, we're setting up for our dress rehearsal."

"Rehearsal for what?" asked Richard.

"It's for their-" Shannon's voice dropped as she was forced to move for an oncoming Geisha. "…Their bimonthly show in Vegas."

"Not bad Shannon, I'm glad to see you still remember," said Marika brightly. "Anyway we've been getting ready for two weeks now and we're finally going to see if we're ready yet again. We don't sell our services privately like in the good ol' days of Japan but we do enjoy preserving their arts and disciplines."

"Quite a few girls for one show," said Richard. Marika chuckled.

"Oh please, only a few girls you've seen so far are part of our sisterhood. The others are merely here to lend a hand with setting up. They're always pinning for a look inside that we felt generous this time around."

"Still got that high and mighty air I see," mumbled Shannon.

Marika seemed not to hear her. "They all think that with the right clothes and makeup they can be just like us, but fancy clothes and spiffy makeup alone a Geisha do not make," she said in a perky singsong voice.

"Yeah, this is all really great but can we just talk now," said Richard. Marika looked a bit miffed. She opened a sliding door to reveal a sewing room, where one of their own slaved over a rack of intricate dresses.

"Could you give us a moment?" Marika asked the young seamstress. She gave Marika and their guests a short curtsey and left them alone. "Okay Agent Grayson, what's this about?"

"Do you know Emily Regan?"

"Emily-Regan, no….no I can't say that I have." Richard nodded at Shannon whereupon she drew a photo of the deceased.

"What about now?" Marika took the photo and her mouth fell open.

"Oh, that's…that's Mary." Shannon and Richard exchanged looks.

"Mary?" repeated Richard. "Her adoptive parents seemed to have forgotten what her name was." Marika waved her hand dismissively.

"Mary was her 'Geisha' name." Shannon folded her arms and looked away disdainfully. Richard arched a brow. "When one is accepted into this house they take up a new name, is symbolizes the bond we would now share."

"Uh huh."

"I'm afraid Mary is away right now, visiting family I think. But she should be back tomorrow-"

"She blew herself up," said Richard flatly. Marika frowned. "She ran amok in a mall and once she had a good number of onlookers she detonated a set of pipe bombs which she wore under her clothes."

"No that can't be true; it doesn't sound like Mary at all."

"She was identified by witnesses, surveillance footage, and her parents," said Shannon. Richard's hand disappeared into his pocket and drew the half melted class ring. As soon as he showed it to Marika he could see it dawning on her. She took the ring from him.

Richard gestured to her right hand. "Its identical to the one you're wearing, isn't it?"

"Y-Yes…" shaking, she handed it back to Richard. "Why would she do something like that?"

"We were hoping you could enlighten us," said Richard.

Marika threw her arms up. "I have no idea; she was the best example we had for our sisterhood. Mary had a 4.0 GPA, she heavily involved in sports and school spirit……." Her voice faltered. "I just can't imagine how this could've happened."

"Do you mind if we talk to some of the other girls?" asked Shannon.

"By all means," said Marika.

--

Shannon paced herself up the second floor as a set of stairs was not something that normally agreed with Richard. She waited at the top for him to catch up, she stood with her arms folded and an exasperated look.

"I just..," she dropped her voice to a whisper. "I just wish they would drop this pretext, we we're not friends."

"Shannon, I don't particularly care about that part," said Richard as he finally reached her level. "I wanted to see how they would react after seeing a long lost friend. It doesn't matter what either of you have to say about the past, presently…..they have nothing but good things to say about you."

"Yeah." Richard stopped at the first room he came across. He motioned for Shannon to announce their presence and she knocked before opening the door. The occupant nearly jumped out of her skin with a frightful squeal. She quickly moved to cover something she had near the window.

"Sorry for the intrusion," said Shannon. "Martha?" Indeed the room they had chosen was that of their greeter from earlier.

"Shannon, no please, I am sorry. I was afraid it was Mama-San or one of the other Geishas."

"Why is that?" asked Richard. Martha was extremely hesitant. Shannon's eyes actually narrowed for a moment.

"What were you doing in here?" Martha's eyes fearfully shot to Shannon.

"Will you promise not to tell the others?"

"Yeah yeah sure," said Richard. "You're not making a bomb are you?" Martha's face grew cross.

"Of course not." She uncovered her project and they saw a small pot on a travel stove. Within was a warm collection of melted chocolate. Shannon's eyes widened at the sight.

"You're making chocolate?"

"Mm hmm," replied Martha with a grin.

"Well I can see how that would anger someone," said Richard. "How can you dare bring non-fat sweet stuff into Cheerleader House?"

"We're not allowed to pursue frivolities not aspired to by traditional Geishas," said Martha. "As much as I want to stay dedicated to the rules as everyone else…….well I just couldn't resist. Not even my roommate, Matilda, knows." Apparently Shannon couldn't resist either, for she had been inching toward the pot ever so slowly. Martha spotted her movements and couldn't help but grin. "Oh, would you like a sample?" Richard rolled his eyes. Martha brought forth a plastic container filled with truffles.

"Oh well, don't mind if I do," chuckled Shannon. "She took one of the chocolates and upon putting it in her mouth was met with a blend of sweet and slightly spicy. It confused her for a moment then a fascinated and satisfied smile crept across her face.

"Wow….."

"I got the idea from Aztec hot chocolate; they would mix chili powder with their cocoa. I did the same on a slightly smaller scale."

"It's absolutely delicious."

"Thank you."

"Did Emily say anything to you before she left?" asked Richard. Martha cocked her head at him strangely. He almost rolled his eyes again. "I mean, Mary."

"Oh, right. If you're asking me if she said anything out of the ordinary then, no, she didn't."

"When was the last time you saw her?"

"Last month, right after our show in Vegas. One of the reasons we look forward to it so much is we get to visit with our most revered Mama San, Moira Yen-Mah." Richard arched a brow.

"Who is this?" Martha reached into a desk by her bed and drew a pamphlet. She handed it to Shannon and both she and Richard examined the cover. It advertised a magical performance given by;

"Moira the Enchantress?" read Shannon. Richard looked at her expectedly. "I've never heard of her."

Martha was happy to explain. "She came after your time, as an exchange student." Richard then noticed that an almost dreamy expression washed over her eyes. "Her shows are sooo wonderful."

"She's a magician, right," said Richard. Martha blinked a few times.

"Y-Yes, yes she is. One of the best-no….the best."

--

Shannon waved behind her as she and Richard descended the stairs from Geisha House. Richard swallowed two of his pain pills and cleared his throat before asking Shannon;

"I can see why you left, now was it just me or did all their names-"

"Start with 'M'? No I managed to pick up on that," said Shannon. "A lot of things around here seem to be new, because I never had to change my name. I can't imagine why any one of them would have to."

Richard shrugged and handed Shannon the brochure. "Maybe she can tell us." Shannon gazed down at the ad, Moira arms were crossed and in each hand she held a rose and a Queen of diamonds playing card. Her eyes stared ahead as though attempting to cast a spell upon the viewer.

"I wasn't the only one who left the Geishas unhappily; I think I know where to find her."

--

Kory and Rachael walked out of the student center. Unfortunately not many people had much to say about poor Emily. Many of them were slightly reluctant to say anything without any amount of gentle coaxing; perhaps it was the thought of Emily actually committing insane suicide. There were dozens of posters scattered throughout the campus with Emily's picture, making people aware of the fact that one of their own was now gone.

"She seems to have had many friends," observed Kory.

"I honestly can't see how Richard can deal with something like this," said Rachael. "This girl had everything here; like you said, friends, a good job, stellar grades, and a place in one of the campus' best clubs……its mind boggling."

Kory nodded. "Truly." There was a short pause as they walked, during which time Rachael attempted to strike up a new subject.

"Have you had any more of the dreams you told me about?"

"Indeed I have," replied Kory. "Each and every time they depict my sister, and I can never discern whether or not she is angry with me. I wake with a start and always temporarily forgetting where I am. Fortunately I have so far done so without disturbing Richard."

Rachael nodded in agreement. "Yes that is a plu-wait!" Her voice faltered. They stopped walking. "Disturb Richard? What do you mean you-…..are you and he sharing a room now?" Kory laced her fingers together.

"Well…" Rachael painted a sympathetic smile on her face.

"Kory its okay I'm……I'm just surprised, that's all." Kory felt relief spread through her.

"I am glad. I was not clear if our association was acceptable by social standards." Rachael chuckled and she began walking with Kory now in tow.

"Don't worry, of course its okay. I'm actually very glad to hear it; it means Richard's taken another important step toward a full recovery." Kory tilted her head at Rachael.

"What step is that?"

"Moving on." They hadn't gone far when a shrill voice startled them both.

"Oh Hello!" Turing in place they saw a young woman wearing a school uniform. "Are you having a good day?"

Kory could not help but return the warm greeting. "Indeed I am. Please, who are you?"

"I'm Serena, one of the school advisers. How long have you considered Howard University?"

"Oh, I am not attending this institution," said Kory with a waving hand a large smile.

"I see, committed elsewhere huh? Well if you change your mind here's my card, give me a call and we'll talk." She handed Kory a business card and departed to launch another surprise attack.

"You should be more careful." Richard's voice snapped them out of their daze. "You look too much like a student, these people feed off of em'."

"She seemed most jovial," said Kory.

"Learn anything?" asked Rachael.

"Yes, this sorority is ten times weirder then when I left it," said Shannon.

"There's definitely a connection between Emily and that club house," said Richard while staring at it off in the distance. "They're not going to say anything useful though while we're hanging around."

"I believe I viewed something on the television about this scenario," said Kory while she too studied the house. "If we could acquire someone who is willing to live among them for a while, they could pass us information." Richard slowly turned his head at her. She became aware of this fact and did a double take. "What?"

"That…..is a fantastic idea."

"Really?" she asked excitedly.

"You bet, now all you need to do is be willing."

"Me?!" she said gesturing to herself. Rachael and Shannon looked just as surprised. Richard took Kory by the hand and guided her inside and out of sight. Rachael and Shannon followed and actually made sure they had not been seen. Inside, Kory was already protesting. "But-But, I do have the experience……the constitution.." She rang her hands together nervously. "That counselor, Serena, I told her I was not attending."

"Say you changed your mind, or don't say anything. Trust me; people like her have the memory of a goldfish." The alien princess bit her lower lip.

"I suppose the experience would render me further into your planet's culture." Richard smiled confidently and took her shoulder.

"Kory, I know you could do this-" Richard suddenly realized he was being dragged out of earshot by Shannon and Rachael. As soon as they let go of his arms they rounded on him.

"Are you crazy?!" exclaimed Shannon in a hushed tone.

Rachael spoke next. "They make those girls change their names, give up personal interests…..you know exactly what this sounds like and you want to send Kory in there?"

"I think she can handle it," maintained Richard.

"She will be putty in their hands!" hissed Shannon. "Things have gotten stranger but I still know these people, you cannot leave Kory alone with them."

"Then we don't leave her alone."

"What are you talking about?" asked Rachael with folded arms.

"You're about to get a notice saying that you're being transferred for a temporary teaching position here." Rachael began to speak. "And Logan will be keeping an eye on you both."

"You know good and well what's going on between me and him," said Rachael darkly. "I don't understand what you're trying to accomplish by making work together."

"He deserves the benefit of the doubt," said Richard. "You don't know what he went through. Take your own 'professional advice' for once and stop thinking of yourself." Richard pushed past them both and returned to Kory. They watched as Kory gradually accepted the job.

"I sure hope he knows what he doing?"

Shannon snickered irritably. "Does he ever?"

Kory's a go'in undercover! Dun da dun! I know the mysterious 'space egg' wasn't in this chapter but believe me, it's big. Any guesses as to who might be inside. You probably have a good idea already. Until next time. Laters!