Resurrecting the Red

Chapter 26: Hunting for Luthor

Wally is alive.

It was a mantra that Bruce Wayne kept repeating in his head. Wally is alive. But the former Caped Crusader had other matters to attend to first: Catching Luthor and keeping an eye on Terry. His son.

Sons. Thank God Terry had found Matt.

Bruce gave a small start when he realized that J'onn was giving him a questioning look. He overheard my thoughts. Bruce gave a small sigh; it had been a long time since he'd had to worry about a telepath.

"I'll explain later J'onn," Bruce muttered quietly. The Martian nodded his head. No doubt J'onn had many questions to ask him…to ask all of them. Bruce wasn't the only one still wondering at how J'onn and Kara had ended up in a cryostasis chamber in one of Luthor's hidden bunkers.

"Do you still sense her?" the Dark Knight asked. J'onn closed his eyes and opened them after a few moments.

"Yes, but not as strongly as before. I believe she has found a way to block me."

"Is she still in Bludhaven?" There was a long pause.

"Yes, but she's on the move."

"Green Arrow and Black Canary are in Bludhaven," Bruce said. He trusted the Queen siblings, they had sharp eyes. "The Question's already on the ground," he added. The Dark Knight didn't know as much about Erin Szasz, but Shayera had assured him that the woman was as good a detective as her father.

Speaking of Szaszes, Charles Victor Szasz had called him only a few minutes ago to check up on his other daughter, who was currently sulking in the medical lab. Bruce grudgingly admitted to himself that the younger Szasz daughter must have some talent if she was able to hold her own against Curare.

Vic had said that he and his other daughter currently had a few theories on where Luthor might turn up and would contact the League when they had something more concrete.

………………………………..

"Are we there yet?" Ethan Queen whined.

"No!"

"Are we…"

"No!"

A miserable Green Arrow tried to avoid looking out the window of the Javelin his sister was flying. They had borrowed the Javelin from the Metrotower since the Watchtower's transporters were still offline. The few transporters in the Metrotower had been shut down for repairs, but several technicians had gotten them up and running again. The only problem was that they were only running on a direct link to the Watchtower.

Thankfully they would be landing in Bludhaven any minute now.

Ethan gripped the sides of his seat until his knuckles turned white. He hated heights…therefore he hated flying. Emily Queen sighed, knowing from long experience of her younger brother's phobia. In an attempt to take his mind off of the 'dangerous flight', she asked him a seemingly innocent question slyly.

"So…when are you and Huntress finally going to hook up?'

The Green Arrow blushed several shades of red.

…………………………………………………………………………………

"I'm fine Mom," the Huntress told her mother, Helena Bertinelli Szasz. She was holding the cell phone with her good arm. "It's just a scratch." Actually, it wasn't. Curare's scimitar had sliced a deep gash into her left arm from her shoulder to her elbow, cutting her nearly to the bone. Elizabeth Szasz had originally been in the medical lab in the Metrotower, but had been transferred up to the Watchtower since it had more medical staff.

"That's not what I hear," Helena replied, despite the fact she probably would have responded in the same way as her daughter.

"Who told you…BOOSTER!" Elizabeth yelled. She grimaced as a sharp pain jumped up her arm. Huntress sighed when Booster Gold, Dr. Stephen Carter, merely smiled innocently at her from across the room. Damn you Carter!

Unfortunately one couldn't stay mad at Booster Gold very long, especially when he was just looking out for your best interests. Trying to be angry with the doctor was like trying to be angry with a whimpering puppy, you just couldn't do it. Had it been anyone else, even a certain annoying archer, and Elizabeth Szasz would have throttled them with her good arm.

"How're Erin and Dad doing?" she finally asked with a sigh. The Huntress paused suddenly as her mother spoke, looking curiously at the newest group to enter the medical lab. Shayera and Rex Stewart had just walked in with the two Flashes. Elizabeth had heard rumors that Wally West was somehow back, but she hadn't believed it until now.

"Come on Shayera! I'm fine!"

"Wally! You've been in the speed force for twenty-four years, sit down and behave!"

Huntress watched curiously as the infamous Wally West sat obediently on an infirmary bed as Shayera sat next to him. Rex Stewart helped the still dazed David to another bed where the young man immediately laid down. Elizabeth wasn't a doctor, but she was pretty sure that the teenager had a concussion. The female superhero suddenly gave a start.

"Yes Mom! I'm listening, I'm not spacing out like Dad!" Elizabeth grumbled.

………………………………………………………………………………..

Terry expertly flew the batmobile towards Bludhaven. According to J'onn, Luthor was still there but believed she would be heading to Gotham soon. Commissioner Gordon had also set up road blocks and check points at all roads, ports, and airfields leading into and out of Gotham. From what he could see, Bludhaven's PD had done the same.

Gordon had acted quickly by having the mayor issue a temporary curfew so it would be easier to move about the city. Luthor was a smart woman; she already knew she was being hunted. There was no point in trying to hide it. Terry tapped a code into the controls in order to patch himself into the Justice League's communication system.

"Arrow? Any luck?" he asked.

"I hate heights!"

"I don't think Batman cares about your irrational phobias," an unfamiliar voice replied disdainfully.

"Shut up Sir Shines At Night!" Ethan snapped. Terry guessed that the new voice must belong to Sir James, the new Shining Knight. He'd heard from Static that the two men didn't get along very well.

"What the hell do you want?" Black Canary growled. Terry rolled his eyes. Apparently neither Queen particularly cared for the knight. However even Terry, their junior by a number of years, knew that this wasn't the time for petty arguments.

"I've been assigned to Gotham to help the police," Sir James replied stiffly, clearly not liking the fact that he was only in a supporting role. "Plastic Woman and I are currently coordinating our activities with Commissioner Gordon." Terry heard Ethan groan, but to his credit the archer held his tongue. Green Arrow knew as well as anyone that the League was currently stretched thin due to the attack on the Watchtower.

"Any sign of Luthor yet?" Terry finally asked icily.

"No," Black Canary replied quickly.

His evident irritation with the argument caused the others to quickly shut up. Bruce, having overheard the squabble up on the Watchtower, allowed himself a hint of a smile as Terry started to take charge.

"Shining Knight and Plastic Woman, give Gordon your full cooperation," Terry ordered. "You'd better respect her orders or…" Terry's unspoken threat hung in the air, but the others caught it. Of course, the young Batman knew fully well that the Commissioner could eat any of them alive if they gave her any lip.

He didn't tell them that though. They could find out on their own.

"Arrow, Canary," Terry added. "I'm almost there. Keep searching, I'll be in touch." He angled the car and pressed down the throttle. The car hurtled towards Bludhaven at top velocity.

………………………………………………………………………………………………………

"A concussion, two broken ribs, a few bruises and a fractured tibia," Dr. Stephen Carter said calmly. "Nothing we can't heal." The blonde headed doctor had been examining David, who was currently lying tiredly on one of the infirmary beds. The teenager hadn't been seriously injured until he'd crashed headlong into Superman and Donna Troy following his escape from the speed force.

Wally watched curiously as the doctor turned to face him. The Speedster had thought that he was the original Booster Gold at first and had been wondering why Michael Carter was playing doctor in the infirmary. Shayera had been the one to tell him that Stephen was Michael's son and that he was a doctor.

"We'll have to run some tests on you," Stephen frowned thoughtfully. "I see no apparent injuries, but there's no telling what effect being in the speed force has done to your molecular structure. We need to make sure that it's stable."

Wally looked at Shayera as the doctor wandered off, muttering to himself as he pulled up some files on a nearby computer console. A nurse came over and gave David a shot of anesthesia. She then wheeled him into a nearby room so they could realign the bone fragments on the lower part of his right leg.

"Shay…what the hell is going on?" Wally asked in desperation. The last thing he clearly remembered was fighting the Key. There were some blurry memories from his time in the speed force, but that was it. The Scarlet Speedster gulped when he saw that Shayera Hol of all people was crying.

"Shay?" Wally asked carefully. He put his arm around his adoptive sister. "It'll be okay, everything's fine now." Shayera cried harder, but Wally could tell they were tears of joy. But Wally wasn't sure if he could do the same. Despite his confusion at the world around him, Wallace Rudolph West understood three things.

Linda was dead. Barry was dead. Iris was dead.

His wife and children were gone.

………………………………………………………..

"Arrow, I don't care if you're scared of heights…get up there!" Terry yelled. Green Arrow stared warily up at the grappling wire. The building must be at least twenty stories tall.

"I'm not suicidal," Ethan grumbled stubbornly. Terry fought back the urge to throttle the archer.

"I've seen you scale heights before," Batman replied, exasperated. Ethan shook his head.

"Not this big. No way…I'm not going up this!"

Terry sighed. The Question had recently contacted Bruce, who had just contacted him, about a few leads. It turned out that Luthor secretly owned two warehouses and a small company called Vogel Tech Engineering. Apparently the three buildings were involved in a lucrative trade in blackmarket weaponry. Erin Szasz had suspected Luthor's involvement, but hadn't had solid proof to bring to the authorities.

Terry didn't know where she had found it, but apparently the Question had found enough evidence to link Luthor to these buildings. Black Canary was currently checking out the warehouse down at the wharf. Question had volunteered herself to check on the other warehouse. This left Terry and Ethan to break into Vogel Tech.

Now if only he could get the stubborn archer moving.

"Arrow!" Terry threatened. Then an evil smile crossed his lips.

"Well, I guess I can tell Sir James…"

"Bah! Sir Jimmy-chan can go rot!" Ethan yelled. But the archer had finally grabbed a hold of the grapling gun. Ethan pressed a button and found himself sliding quickly up the wire. Terry nodded his head and took flight. The two men had decided to break in at opposite ends of the building.

Terry couldn't help smirking though. Sir Jimmy-chan? Sir Shines At Night? How many nicknames did Queen have for the man?

Batman grew serious again as he lighted atop the small skyscraper. He pulled a small laser from his utility belt and set to work at a small ventilation grate. Terry only hoped that Bruce had already hacked in and shut down the security system as they had planned.

Terry missed the fact that his presence hadn't gone unnoticed.

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