~~~~~Chapter 4: Same Old Street~~~~~~~

Gotham City was strangely quiet this Friday Night. The streets lacked a great amount of obvious crime. Sirens only wailed maybe once in the past two hours. It was almost something of an anomaly really. The noise in Gotham City at night usually comforted the residents. It was part of its charm, just like the prospect of crime was for criminals. Just like the safety provided by the superheroes in the vicinity provided a significant amount of comfort for the law abiders who've made the decision to live here.

But the silence was beginning to disturb the regular night crawlers of the city. Such peace in the city was uncommon. Even though in outward appearance, nothing had changed, but it was like everyone knew something had. Something no one could put their finger on. As if a big part of the city had been snatched away when everyone had their backs turned. Something they feel as though they should notice, but they let it be. Waiting for whatever it was to come, if it was even there.

Not everyone had their minds on the uninvited tension settling in the city. There's a personal building, not far from the secondary building for STAR laboratory. Somewhere on the top floor of that building resided a certain young superhero focused on something entirely different than the problems within the city. Or, maybe one that had everything to do with it. The only noise in the room was the running air conditioning . The room way overdue for a cleaning. Papers and files were scattered all over the floor and counter-tops along with Chinese takeout boxes and empty coffee cups. Every window in the small apartment fogged from the humidity of the night. In the foyer a computer screen blinked: FIREWALL DETECTED.

"Ugh!"

Batgirl slipped her head into her hands, frustrated. That was the sixth firewall she had encountered that night. Even with her exceptional decoding skills, this project had turned out to be unfailingly problematic. This mission given to her by Batman had first been simple. First, her job had been to find any new information on a newfound terrorist group by the name of Jits. That didn't seem hard, with the only information they actually had on the group was that they had contact with the Church of Blood. Spies within the convent had revealed that the Church's leader had been communicating with this group for six months, and that was it. Batman was interested because, well of course, terrorist. She on the other was curious about the whole situation, since the cult's MO never once in history included terrorists.

Giant, evil spirits?

Yes.

Corrupt, Power hungry politicians?

Yes.

Terrorists?

Nope.

Her first step of course was, the Wicked Witch of the West herself, Bethany Snow. She was that bitch reporter that worked for the Church. Brother Sebastian had disappeared, along with the big shots of the cult. It caused a big stir within Gotham community. At first, rumors circled of a new rebirth of the church with a new leader under the command of the Everyone had guessed they'd just went back to operating under the radar. But, because Snow loved the publicity, she was always advocating for the Church. She was always trying to use publicity and her status to turn public opinion away from superheroes. If there was one person in this whole world that made her want to spend her free time writing up creative ways to die slowly and painfully, it was Bethany.

Looking into Bethany had yield interesting results about the avid Lucifarian had an extensive record. She couldn't find much Bethany's childhood. A lot of her history revolved around her late college years at Bradford U. She had two charges for trespassing on private properties one Senator, one mayor. She had also been detained under suspicion of leading protests about six different times. Every other than that Bethany hadn't been charged with anything too serious. But part of Batgirl's job was to look at Bethany's long term contacts and find any connected with the church that might yield some results. Meanwhile, Batgirl had literally spent the last week keeping tabs on Bethany. When she wasn't shadowing Bethany to beauty parlors and interviews with snobby rich wigs, she was watching past news reports Bethany had reported on that had might've had anything to do with terrorism or the Church or hacking her cellphone and home computer. Nothing new had come up. Bethany was good at stopping just at the right parts to keep her from incriminating herself. And this girl lived like she knew she was being watched. All her moves and were carefully planned, anything said to strangers she was wary of was carefully scripted. Her cellphone had only her assistant and professional contacts which all checked out to be clear. Her computer didn't even have any saved files on it. Batgirl had long ago caught whiff that Bethany downloaded everything important onto a flash drive and kept it with her always.

The only clue she'd picked up was an assistant Bethany had that worked in her office at News Today headquarters. His name was Daniel Chin, a troubled twenty-three year old with a couple of misdemeanors, theft charges, and a couple of assault charges. Bethany didn't work with liabilities like him, but this kid had to be special to have kept his job with her for the past two months. He had no prior experience in reporting or news casting. Not even working on cameras or any computer skills. But for some reason, he was her registered website assistant. Her site had been suspected for suspicious activity before. Someone had reported large amounts of money being donated. In the end, no evidence was found to back up the accusation. But information and informants on the site still went through, and the privacy policy and the security were strict.

Batgirl couldn't hack the website, but that's where Chin was going to come in. Since he was the a manager for the website, it wouldn't be a longshot to guess that he kept the information on his work computer in the office. Up until that point, things had been smooth. Now, she was spending her night trying to hack into the computer's domain. Anyone could say what they wanted about Bethany, but she was always prepared. Even if her assistant didn't show the intelligence to protect his files, she made sure he did.

This was high-tech and professional computer security. The firewalls weren't the toughest she'd ever try to break, but she also encountered protocol viruses. No one was positive where these viruses had shown up, probably circulating through the hackers' black-market, but these were practically a coliseum fight to the death for your everyday hacker or any advanced computer technician. Protocol viruses were like backlashers with no specific internal source or stable coding. They were impossible to predict, and sent waves of other viruses to shut down whoever is attempting to access into the next firewall. Batgirl had been fighting these things for hours, just barely keeping them from completely shutting her out of the IS domain. Every time she hit a firewall, she felt like she was back at square one.

The computer screen continued to blink the dreadful, begging for attention and taunting her all at the same time. Batman was expecting progress by tomorrow morning, and at this rate it look like it was going to take another week.

Batgirl sunk back into her focus, putting all her concentration on the firewall. She was determined to get through this.

So determined, in fact, she didn't notice her front door squeak open. As her fingers raced across the keyboard, a figure steadily and noiselessly made their way across the room. Batgirl didn't even notice as the figure stepped behind her and watched as she furiously typed.

The figure leaned down and whispered, "What's that?"

Batgirl jumped, simultaneously, squealing, knocking her coffee off the table. On instinct she clumsily spun around to defend herself. Her arms shot out forward, but she half slid off the chair, her knees hitting the floor. There's was a firm grasp on her wrist and she began to struggle.

Where was her belt?

"Aye," a smooth voice echoed in the room, "calm down, Babsy."

Batgirl stopped at the familiar voice. She looked up. Dim moonlight filtering from the sky view fell on the face of the intruder. Big brown eyes stared at her, amused. A smirk glittered in the moonlight.

Batgirl gasped. "Zatanna!"

The fair-skinned stage magician continued to smile at her as she pulled Batgirl to her feet. "Geez, Babsy, you're on some serious edge."

Batgirl took a deep breath to compose herself and stared Zatanna up and down. She is in her usual magician outfit, black leather pants, a white and black laces corset and her cape.

"Well, that's what happens when you break into someone's apartment and sneak up on them!"

"It was hardly breaking in. Your front door was unlocked!" Zatanna's eyes swept over the apartment. "And I would hardly call this an apartment." She bent down and picked up an empty carton of orange juice. "Geez, when was the last time you've cleaned, Babsy?"

Batgirl rolled her eyes at the horrid nickname. "Can you not call me that?" She resumed her position in the chair, avoiding from really taking in the disaster of her apartment. Denial was a good friend where a mess was concerned. "And it's not that bad. Don't be overdramatic."

The magician crossed her arms and stared intently at Batgirl.

"Okay, so maybe I haven't cleaned in a while," she mumbled in defeat. Batgirl bent down and picked up the fallen coffee mug. It was blue with a thumbs up on the base. It was a moving gift from her father. "Why are you here anyways? It can't be to scold my cleaning habits."

"Maybe that's what I should've come here for."

Zatanna leaned up against the paper littered desk. Batgirl turned back toward the computer. The screen blinked green and red: ENCODINGERROR98748302.

"Ugh, not again." A headache was coming on.

"What are you doing?"

"Trying to hack one of the most unnecessarily complicated Intel network in the universe." Batgirl leaned back in her chair. Her stomach started growling. "I've been working on this since I got back at six."

Zatanna shook her head. "Now listen, if the security is that hard to crack then it's nowhere near unnecessary. Someone is trying to hide something. Something big. Big and, all the likely, bad."

"Well, at this pace I might as well be trying to interview John Locke. This is literally getting nowhere fast."

"Then you take your time." Zatanna moved from the desk and sauntered into the open wall kitchen. She flicked on the overhead light and turned on the coffee maker. "You really need to clean up in here," she called out, motioning to the empty food containers and newspapers. "You're gunna get rats."

"I think that's the least of my problems," she called back, attempting once again to hack into the server.

"That's what you'll think 'til you get 'em." Zatanna opened the refrigerator. "And you don't have anything to eat! You need to grocery shop."

"Don't have time." Batgirl was once again focusing on her work. Five minutes into it she was rushed out and the gateway screen closed down. She slammed her fist on the desk. Her frustration level was at the max.

Zatanna walked over with coffee in one hand and a hot pocket in the other. "Here," she said, setting it on the table.

Batgirl just grunted in reply. Zatanna sighed. She hated seeing her friend win this state. Babs always put her all into her work, and it made Zatanna worry. That's why she dropped her for a visit every now and then. Just to make sure Batgirl didn't drop dead from exhaustion.

"You gunna entertain your guest or what?" Zatanna said.

A few more clicks of the keyboard later Batgirl let out a sigh/scream, pushing herself from the computer. "This is impossible!"

"Take a break," Zatanna said. She picked up the cup of coffee and forced it into Batgirl's hands. "And drink. I ain't bringing you back to life if you drop dead from dehydration."

Batgirl shrugged, half listening and sipped the coffee. It tasted bitter on her dry tongue, making it rough to swallow.

"Geez, you want to put any cream in this?"

Zatanna's eyes narrowed, arms crossed over her chest. "Sorry, Babsy, I'll start carrying cream in my hat," she spat. "Go grocery shopping."

Batgirl rolled her eyes and sat the mug down on her trashed desk. "Don't you have a show or something tonight?"

Zatana smiled. "Actually no. I don't have a show tonight. Nor do I have one tomorrow night or for the rest of the month."

Batgirl's eyebrow quirked in slight intrigue. "Oh, why not?"

"I'm going to Jump," she stated. "Tonight."

Batgirl spun around in her chair. "What? Tonight? Why?"

Zatanna strode to the glass doors and opened them for a little air. "I got some information on a book I need to get a hold of."

"What kind of book?" Batgirl asked, her previous task completely forgotten now. The computer screen continued to blink green and red, illuminating the dark side of the room in eerie colors. Strangely enough, no sounds could be heard from outside. "Does it have to do with…?"

"Black Magic?" Zatanna finished. "Yeah, it does. Long story short, there's this woman who used to work with my dad a long time ago named Margret Loin. People say she was centuries old, continuously resurrecting herself and bending her own stream of time. And that she used magic not just to keep herself alive, but to resurrect the dead. It was her specialty."

"Hang on. What do you mean 'was'?" Batgirl continued to inquire, not completely following. "Is she… dead?"

Zatanna nodded. "Dead as a door nail. For sure this time. She apparently crossed some people in high places, and the Church of Blood. Then again, her book of zombie makers wasn't completely a secret either. So anyone could have killed her for it."

"Oh, so you're not looking for her. You're looking for the book?"

"Yes," she said, her voice getting strangely low. "It needs to be destroyed. Immediately."

Batgirl agreed. The last thing anyone needed was some army of the dead running around in the west coast. "So, any idea where it is? Did she have a sect that's holding on to it?

Zatanna shook her head. "No. She cut off a lot of her personal followers a decade ago when her daughter died in an accident," she told her. "But, she does have a son living in Utah. And as far as I know he got all her belongings."

Now Batgirl was lost again. "Okay, wait. I'm confused now. If he's in Utah, why go to Jump?"

"Because he doesn't dabble in the black arts stuff. Margret and her son hadn't talked in over thirty years. He's even part of some anti-devil regime down in the boonies of nowhere. She would not let him have the book because it'd be in danger."

"Like, he would destroy it?"

Zatanna plopped into the lounger, shaking her head. "No, he can't do that. There's a bond with this book that keeps anyone in Margret's blood line from being able to destroy it. But he could undoubtedly find someone to do it for him, which would be a problem."

Batgirl nodded, forcing down another gulp of coffee to wet her mouth. "So, where does Jump come in?"

"Found out yesterday that he is shelling out five grand a month for some preppy white girl boarding school in Jump City." She leaned forward, excitement glowing in her eyes. "I bet you any amount of magician secrets that whoever he is paying to go to that boarding school is the reason Margret fell off the black magic scene for over a decade. And whoever she is has that book."

"That's a bit of a leap don't you think?"

"Yeah, but it's a smart leap." Zatanna stood up and smiled at her friend. "So Ima need you to get me a plane ticket to Jump and a place to stay please."

Batgirl's mouth hung open. "What the hell? Is that why you came over?"

"And I wanted to see you," she defended. "Come on. Just get me over there please."

"And what, get you a hotel?" Batgirl rolled her eyes. "Four or Five star, Queen Zatanna?"

"No, no hotels," she said. "I need somewhere private. People know about Margret's death and missing book so we can't take any changes. Oh, how about Robin's place? He lives down there now."

Batgirl scoffed. "You mean the Titan Tower? And what, you want me to call in the middle of the night and be 'Hey you guys, sorry to be a bother, but you mind picking up Zatanna from the airport and rooming her for God-knows-how-long until we find a mystical zombie book?'," she says, voice dripping with sarcasm. "I mean, come on!"

"It won't be that bad. And hey, you can get a ticket for the morning. I will take more time to pack," Zatanna tells her. "Besides, I bet you want to talk to Boy Wonder anyway, right?" She cooed teasingly.

Batgirl sighed. "Seriously? I had a crush on him, what, five years ago? Then he left. It isn't anything but that."

"Sure it ain't, Babsy." She pinched Batgirl's cheek playfully and the computer geek quickly pulled away in frustration. "So you gunna do it it for me or what?"

"Fine," Batgirl relented. "I'll get you a ticket for the morning and fax it to you."

"Actually just e-mail it to me. They take those types of tickets now."

"Whatever."

Zatanna smiled. "Lose the attitude before you talk to him. Guys like girls that aren't so uptight," she advised. "Also, wash the hair."

Batgirl pointed to the door. "Leave."

Zatanna smiled and laughed all the way to the door. "See you later, Babsy."

Batgirl revealed in the sound of the door closing shut. She slumped in her chair, staring at her bitter coffee in disgust then at the computer screen that continued to blink, taunting her to give it another go at their game of cat and network protection mouse.

Batgirl had a feeling she was going to lose.

~~~~Break~~~~~

A break.

Yeah. That's what this was. A break.

A break from what exactly? Even Raven wasn't sure. Was it a break from her friends? Maybe a break from crime fighting. Possibly a break from confinement? Maybe a break from reality? She didn't know. She wanted a break. Oh dear heavenly Azar did she want a break. But she wasn't sure from what. That's the question.

A break from what?

Raven let out what had to be her seventh audible sigh that night. Her sneakers squeaked on the cracked pavement of the sidewalk. A harsh breeze blew, making her hair fly upward. Instinctively she wanted to wrap her cloak around herself, but recalled she wasn't wearing it. She was just wearing a black hoodie and matching shorts.

She was now regretting her decision to dress like a mundane. But how else was she going to get a break from the rest of the city? Walking around in her uniform would only draw attention to herself. She didn't want that. She wanted freedom from their prying questions and hungry eyes. Their need to know and be involved in her life was almost sickening. Just let her do her job and move on. People didn't parade after policemen and firefighters, why her? What made her so special?

Another breeze came and this time a crunch came with it. Immediately, Raven was aware someone was nearby. It shouldn't have been as alarming as it was. Her simple walk down the street had led her into downtown Jump, the slumps of the city. Repeatedly that night she had felt the presence of people stalking through the shadows, not wanting to be noticed like her. Others were in alleys, either homeless and sleeping away without a care in the world, or some drug deals deep in the crevices. Others were more obvious. She'd seen some young looking adults standing by cars playing music and drinking. Raven had also run into hookers standing on the corners of the streets, waiting for a potential John to pick them up and contribute to their rent and whatever livelihood they had left. While waiting at one corner to cross the street, one girl with bleach blonde hair ambled up next to her, asking Raven if she was new and if she had a cigarette.

Raven had shook her head, this girl's scars painfully illuminated under the streetlamp they stood under. "No, I don't," she replied. "And I'm just crossing the street." Even though this girl was obviously on something to help numb the pain, Raven could still sense a portion of deep seeded pain residing inside the blonde.

The girl smiled, showing broken and black teeth. "Ain't we all jus' a crossin' the street?" She slurs, glancing across the road. "Ain't matter how many streets you cross, ain't none of get any better than the one ya standin' on. Not even that one o'er there." After that, the girl walked down the street, disappearing into the night.

Raven couldn't help but continuously ponder what that girl had said. For sure, that prostitute wasn't a philosopher, nowhere near up to par with the ones she read about. But what she said made Raven… terrified. What if it never got better? What if no matter how much she tried, this albatross around her neck wouldn't be broken? If she just kept crossing streets all her life and the next one was the same as her last. They just kept repeating. Over and over again. She wanted to scream. She's wanted to just scream for so long now but her voice was stuck in her throat. She was incapable of letting it go. Maybe that meant she was incapable of just being content with her life?

Another crunch snapped her back to reality. Someone was nearby. And whoever it was is focused. Raven stops under a streetlight. She lets her self reach out for a quick second, grabbing some information on whoever this is. If they are really following her. Maybe she's just being paranoid…

"Why'd you stop, Princess?"

Raven jumped, losing all her focus. She spun around, her fist clenched up in the air, ready to fight.

There's a figure leaning up against an abandoned brick building. Tall, muscular looking, and blue eyes were the only things she could make out. He might as well have been a shadow with the most beautiful iris's she's ever seen.

Wait.

Why did that go through her mind?

"You going to answer me, Princess?" He voice is deep, full of arrogance Raven can feel with intensity.

Raven relaxed, deciding flipping out on what she figured to be nothing but a noisy human male would draw attention to herself. She wouldn't use her powers unless necessary.

"Who are you?" She asks. Raven checked to see if he was alone. It seemed he was. They were the only to living souls on this street right now. But why was she so nervous?

"Whoever you want me to be, Babe," he cooed.

"Be serious," she hissed.

"Hi, I'm serious. And you?"

She rolled her eyes. He was playing a game she didn't want to join. "I don't have time for this."

"You don't seem to be headed anywhere in particular," he says. "Need an escort?"

"Now, why would I need an escort?"

"Because, a pretty little gal like you walking around out here by yourself is literally a setup for an attack by some creep out here in the dark."

"Guess it's a good thing you aren't one," she said, voice dripping with sarcasm.

"What, do I seem like a creep, Princess?"

Raven rolled her eyes. "What do you want?"

"Most likely the same thing you want."

A car alarm goes off in the distance. It was the only thing reminding Raven that they were other people out there right now. For the oddest of reasons, she felt so alone with this stranger. He seemed to know this, because his arrogant demeanor seemed to not waver but, in fact, grow. And for the oddest of reasons, Raven wanted to match up with it and shut it down all at the same time.

"I know for a fact we don't want the same thing," she says, crossing her arms over her chest.

There's a humorless chuckle from the shadows. "Oh, really? I highly doubt you do."

"And why is that?"

"Because, Sunshine, if you knew my motives as well as you claim you do, you probably wouldn't still be standing here so curious about them."

That felt like a stab to her side. He was right. She was curious. She knows she shouldn't be. Curiosity killed the cat and shit like that. She should walk away. Or better yet, go home. Well, if she could really call that cage a home.

But she wasn't going to back down. Her pride was at stake.

"You don't know shit about me."

She could practically feel him smirk in the dark. "Oh, feisty. I like girls who got a mouth on them."

"Are you done?"

"Maybe," he mused. "Do you want me to be done?"

"Yes," she says, smiling. "Very much so."

"Please, Sunshine. I'm probably the most exciting thing you've run into tonight."

She glared at him. "Not even a little. Leave. Now."

"Take a note from my book, Sunshine Suzy, and chill out," he says. "You sound like you need a break."

"Don't you see I'm trying to have one now?" She says, completely exasperated from the argument. "But people like you and everyone else around me can't just step back and give me a break."

He turned away from her. "Ever think it isn't everyone else, Sunshine?" He says. "Maybe what you need is a break from yourself."

Another breeze blew. And with it, the stranger had gone. The car horn in the distance was the only noise keeping her company. She pondered over what he had said. A break from herself? Was that even possible.

Raven glanced around her downtrodden surroundings. She hated to admit, but for a second there, this street seemed different than all the rest. Like it had promise. Like it had some excitement deemed in its future. Now it was just like the others. Dull and full of empty promises. Full of things she'd knew would be there. Predictable and demanding. Everywhere she looked, the streets just kept on repeating, as if it was supposed to be that way. And somehow, she was the only one who wasn't okay with it.

"Maybe what you need is a break from yourself."

Something about that advice made sense. It was like an impossibly perfect idea. But there were no directions. No guidelines. No books that could tell her if it was even possible.

"How do I do that?" She asks quietly, to no one in particular.

The car horn in the distance stops.

Her question is met with heart-shattering silence.

~~~~~~~Chapter FIN~~~~~~

Sorry about the delay. Getting a job has taken up all my time. But I thought I'd shell this out today. Have a good day you guys