He locks away the Pontiac in its hidden garage though likely Cadmus by now is building some sort of files about such quirks. It is time to visit the new Watchtower and get the lay of the station before the others start turning up there. The recruitment continues and some names on the list are more familiar than others, but finding who is and who is not on the list proves to be simpler because in a rather unremarkable turn their names are being put on their quarters aboard the Watchtower. He carries very little with him on the first beam up though the sensation of using the teleporter does make him uneasy at first, but it is either that of travel by one of those new Javelins mark II's.

[+++]

Batman as Flash so eloquently put it once had made the original Watchtower into a giant batarang when he took it out of orbit to smash into the Thanagarian Hyperspace Bypass Generator once the force field went down. The details on how they got the force field down is unclear, but then all the pre-Watchtower II reports are no longer available as the computers like the rest of the original station were for a time a smoldering heap in the Gobi Desert. Besides at that time nobody would be bothering with paperwork nor would anyone be likely to log reports of any kind about the Thanagarian Occupation. Flash remains the easiest to decipher most of the time, but the youngest in mind and body of the now nicknamed Original 7, does not possess the tendencies common to Superman, Wonder Woman, or even Batman.

The Watchtower II had been in the works for some time, but of course Watchtower I's destruction provides cause for Bruce Wayne to fund a replacement. This time it is much more spacious, sizable, and besides it had to be by adding not only more costumes, that is expected yet what is baffling is hiring a staff compromising of technicians, engineers, medical personnel, etc. It would give Cadmus openings to infiltrate the Watchtower, at least potentially, but Watchtower security is not exactly among Question's priorities.

The encryption lockouts on most of the computers up here prove too easy to break, but of course they were not made hard to crack as whoever made them did not see how someone could except for someone with experience with encryption sequences. Batcomputer would definitely prove more of a challenge yet even he is not ready to do that, so far Batman had not shown cause for why Question should venture down that avenue. There are several file directories, some significant, others not so much, but what made the point of hacking the system is finding out who else is joining or reluctant to join the roster.


Supergirl is too obvious with Superman already on the team from the beginning.

Next is John Henry Irons, another Metropolis denizen, goes by the moniker Steel, he is a former Lexcorp employee, and the only glaring negative in his record is the incident involving a prototype suit. The suit was meant to put Sergeant Corey Mills on even footing with Superman except Mills began exhibiting out of character behavior and even stole the suit. Irons left Lexcorp after the incident and through encouragement from Superman sought to improvise the design to avoid the mistake and it is well that he did as Metallo once again had come after Superman not long after what happen with Bowman and Walker.

Almost no familiar faces from Gotham or Bludhaven are any of the lists despite suggestions made by Flash, Diana, and even Superman to invite them to the team. Batman definitely had something to do with that, but more likely he had spoken to his infrequent partners about the possibility. It had come down to one of Batman's lines that somebody had to watch Gotham with him infrequently out of town due to League business. It would make for upsets all around though not for the same cause, but that fits with anyone who deals with Batman except for Question or rather Vic as he occasionally allows some to call him.

Next file pertains to Dinah Lance aka Black Canary, her physicality might hold some appeal to other men and there is no denying even for Question that she is a beautiful woman, but she is just not his type. As a protégé of Wildcat, she offers to be another worthwhile martial arts oriented fighter should the need arise on a mission yet she too is prone to the solo preference though is more flexible to teamwork. She would have to be if she believes in doing her part in the expanding roster and of course she could also open the door for others to follow because word gets around that the League is not that much of an exclusive club anymore, it would be more appealing to some.

John Stewart is still pressing the invite on Oliver Queen aka Green Arrow, but one wonders how many greens can a team have, at first Question chuckles at the thought, but knows Queen's finances would lighten the financial strain on Wayne to keep maintaining this larger Watchtower as well as its satellites. Batman had certainly been busy considering who to invite and besides with a growing amount of super powered beings joining forces, they would need plenty to keep them grounded less the ability and the means to do certain things went to their heads.

It would take more than simple moral obligation to compel some to stay, but the bond between the six had gone through much even before the Thanagarian Occupation yet even so no one incident can truly represent the integrity of the team's spirit. The original seven had their trials yet the trials are never at an end because someone or something is always testing them, either to break them or measure them. Whatever the case, this potential trouble with Cadmus could be perhaps the most trying trial of their careers, but for now it would do him no good to worry about the possibilities and the consequences even though he had made some headway in his investigations.


The catch is that Cadmus covers its tracks very well yet there is indisputable signs that past 'missteps' by the costumes are motivating people to distrust them and find ways to remove them from the picture. It would not be surprising if they had files or are building a filing system on the costumes. He rubs his temple before skipping to the next file in the chain, which does gain his interest more than the others so far.

Batman surprisingly is sponsoring or offering joining to Helena Bertinelli aka Huntress, as a child like Bruce, she lost her parents to a double homicide, she had seen it from the closet that her father put her in to protect her, but that in itself is something of lie, because there is no way to fully protect someone from death, natural and unnatural.

A question is murder unnatural?

It happens so often throughout the world and even right now as Question sorts through these files, murders could be happening, murderers could be getting away with the crime, and the victims reap the consequences all around. Her parents' killer is still out there. It is likely one of many shaping factors to her becoming the Huntress and her past beyond the murders is similar to Bruce's before he became Batman. She would be one to watch, he is certain of that especially if her past comes back to haunt her, but of course he never totally grasped or understood the idea of the past haunting anyone. He had however not seen some of things that others have or felt things that the others had, but as an observer of human nature he can contend or imagine the effects it might have on others.

There is a difference between certainty and speculation, between knowing and theorizing, but of course even he could admit that he knows far less than he suspects all the time. He hears shouting outside his room and so he erases the latest tangents with a personal data wipe protocol.

The fedora hangs from the rack on the wall and so he slides it on before heading out. Some of those getting rooms on this corridor are having trouble with their locks so there are staffers going around helping them with the doors and locks. It is redundant to acknowledge that many costumes are used to the simplicity of keys, busting door knobs, kicking door jambs, etc. However there are a few connoisseurs for locking picking yet as he turns to leave out his door he collides with someone.

She grabs him by flaps of his trench coat and surprisingly for him, it is Huntress. He suppresses a smile beneath his faceless mask. He had to admit the file photos do her little justice. Her mask has the same kind of lenses as Batman's or any other in the Batclan though Batgirl never used them and one wonders how Commissioner Gordon did not find her out. A red head costume wearer is somewhat uncommon though she is not the only one with red hair. He mumbles an apology and she lets him go then turns to enter the code to unlock her room.

"The doors close a little fast, watch the cape," says Question.

It snags anyway and she fumes from the other side plus the support staff had no put in all the locking mechanisms on the inside of all the rooms yet too. He tells her how to unlock the door, which would mean having to unhook her cape to allow her freedom of movement yet unlike Batman her cape and her mask are separate. The door unlocks, the cape drops to the floor, she quickly picks it up before possibly waiting for him to do it, and so he turns to leave her to acquainting herself with the other annoyances of this new Watchtower.


As for his room, he locks it before he leaves the corridor to return the Monitor Hub and inserts the earpiece comlink into his ear. Nobody asks him where he is going or why he is going, they simply beam him back to where he was before coming topside to the Watchtower. He vanishes in a blur of light and reappears in the hidden garage where he keeps his Pontiac GTO yet in his shirt pocket is a backup copy of the costumes he had taken from the Watchtower II mainframe. He had of course made his own personal encryption on it that rotates so it only works from the pattern in the sequences that his mind alone can tumble through from day to day.

The range of picks are familiar and unfamiliar, famous and infamous, known and obscure, but of course a concern that threads through all of it is to never leave Earth vulnerable to another Thanagarian type incident or whatever the Omega Level Threat condition means. It will be some time before the full tally is in, but for now he would keep some tabs on ones that warrant him to be watchful of for the moment. His interest in Huntress only furthers with every encounter that follows the first one and he wonders if he is actually starting to feel attraction towards her.

It is mystifying because well he had been in the same profession with females in costume before, but something that he found unable to pin down is different about her in particular. Her physical prowess is not a key factor, her natural beauty is ensnaring on some level yet he concludes after some debate, his interest in her stems from her personality, from qualities that Batman finds objectionable. Batman will not use weapons or at least not any lethal ones while Huntress employs a dart gun, which fires tiny arrow shaped projectiles.

It is a notable development that there are plenty of female crime fighters or heroines joining with the expanding roster including Huntress yet something about her tendencies could easily lead to her ejection from the League. There are plenty things that have to be done solo to avoid compromising a team like the League and even if he or she should have to leave the League, it would not bother him much because he is not that involved in the day-to-day operations. His mind drifts back to focusing on driving back to his apartment where he parks the Pontiac in another lockable garage.

He takes the stairs as usual back to his floor in the apartment building. He might be paranoid, plenty think he is, some times paranoia is justifiable, and others well it shifts from eccentric to weird. He closes the blinds after locking the door from the inside then checks the window locks. Others might believe in having a home security system put in, but he is wary of such things despite the positive reactions had towards having such systems in residences. It is time for Question to retire for the night and for Vic Sage to sleep so he uses the usual tricks to get the faceless mask off then washes off what makes his hair look darker than its natural shade.

He usually sleeps half dressed mean his under shirt and his thin dark blue suit pants though of course under certain lighting what he wears looks either closer to blue or closer to purple. One might get a chuckle out of his sock color yet there is something of an image to looking like an almost noir detective. He shuts off the lights and settles into bed before drifting off to sleep. There are at least two inescapable variables in his life now… Huntress and Cadmus… the longer he remains on the trail of one… the more likely he is going to find himself closer to the other. As for why he holds this notion in mind, not even he is sure about it.


"What is the deal with Superman calling a full roster assembly?" queries Question.

"Don't ask me, he just wants everyone up here as soon as possible," answers J'onn.

"I have to park the car out of sight, so wait a few if you don't mind," continues Question.

"You might not have such leeway in the future Question," remarks J'onn.

Question knows that, even as Vic Sage he had known that, but of course the Martian likes to remind him of that since he is rarely going to the field anymore. He behaves more like a station chief or a control dispatcher. The Pontiac is one of few garages that Question maintains only for the sake of his vehicle of choice, his plum shaded Pontiac GTO, he did not see the purpose in driving something that stands out as much as a Batmobile, a Javelin, or even the Invisible Jet that Wonder Woman is rumored to fly occasionally on long range or special missions. He taps the earpiece comlink into place and teleports up though as he reappears he finds himself catching the gaze of Huntress for the second time in less than a month.

He walks away from the teleporter pad along with the rest of the group that had come up with him from different locations near his beam up site. He refrains from the urge to loosen his tie because something about the crowded room made him claustrophobic despite the appearance of the size though it felt smaller with dozens of people there. He hears the whine of the teleporter again as John Stewart materializes with a decidedly unhappy Oliver Queen at his side. Question knows from files and his only sparing observations that Queen remains hesitant to join this new roster.

Perhaps a certain bird could change his mind, but of course, for the moment Queen is focusing more on the fact that he was brought up here against his will. Stewart is only the messenger; the sender is of course Batman who appears expectedly at Question's side before heading over to Queen or rather Green Arrow.

Superman, Wonder Woman, Flash, and J'onn J'onzz join Batman in greeting Green Arrow.


The crowd is mingling below them as Batman and Question talk privately away from the noise.

"You have been a busy bat," murmurs Question.

"I had a gut feeling you broke into the roster archives earlier this month," whispers Batman.

"You expect any less?" quips Question.

"No, I thought you would, but nobody would take my suggestion to that end seriously."

"Figures, so why Queen aside from the obvious wealth?"

"Humility for our super powered teammates… they need plenty of that."

The rhetorical query out of the way leads to the hidden query.

"Why Huntress?" continues Question.

He aims to conceal his curiosity through an indifferent tone.

"They were pushing to recruit any one of my protégés… it was already agreed between us that they were best to stay where they are yet of course Huntress is the exception."

"Not a full answer."

He suspects Bruce through Batman has other motives to keep them out of this.

"She is also the one that needs the most supervision given the rumors about her parents' killer."

"Some might almost tag you that way too."

"Nobody really knows what happen to my parents' killer and besides that is not the issue."

There is a pause though of course they both know this is a touchy subject between pasts and women.

"I would disagree, but still you maybe right about someone to keep an eye on her."

"I bet you already are Vic."

Vic thanks to his mask can hide some of his unease.

"Better watch out with all these men taking a nice long look at Diana… Bruce."

Batman slips away to talk to Arrow and he is left noticing Helena mingling in the crowd below the teleporter's surrounding platform. He simply walks towards one of the view ports and looks down towards Earth pondering if this new array of Watchtower elements is actually arrogant, but of course it is somewhat too early to decide yet even as they take the tentative steps up here. Somewhere down below Cadmus is preparing as well yet as to what they are up to remains unclear aside from the nervous behavior he is noticing in Supergirl yet she tries to behave as though it is only nightmares. The only lead to that end is what happen several years when what took pace at STAR Labs after Superman brought her there after the breakout orchestrated in concert with Lois Lane.

The threading tangent again leads back to the rogue incident, no surprise there, there is a connection. Superman gives a house warming speech to the assembly of costumes and one finds cause to feel some inspiration from his words.

There is however an alert about a nuclear incident somewhere in Asia so Green Arrow is already off on his first mission with Stewart as team leader plus Supergirl and Captain Atom for back. Atom or rather former USAF Captain Nathaniel Adams could be problematic if his ties to the military ever get him in the recruiting sights of Cadmus, but then that is just another wild card among wild cards in this roster of a deck. The four member team heads down in one of the Mark II Javelins and so everyone is dispersing either back to their cities or to missions that the Martian is sending them on.


As for Question, Cadmus can wait for now, he'll observe how Queen takes to being part of a team instead of just having a partner like he did with Roy Harper aka Speedy. The video footage is telling though of course their first encounter with the walking nuclear weapon does not go well leaving Stewart out of the fight.

In the second round, Captain Atom's containment suit is cracked forcing him to withdraw from the battle so that he can put enough distance between himself and the others from the radiation once the breach ruptures fully.

Supergirl is unable to do anything either yet a well aimed or perhaps even lucky shot by Green Arrow shuts down the walking or mobile weapon. Huntress remains somewhat perplexed with the intensity of attention he had given to watching this fight unfold so either she confronts him about it or simply leaves, but something about his focus is appealing yet unnerving.

"First you bump into me, now you are ignoring me, and all to watch those four slug it out with a walking nuclear reactor?" quips Huntress.

"You never know how certain kinds of abilities, mentalities, and powers will gel or not gel together."

"Still you could find other ways to see it without staring at a screen to find out."

"True enough, but I want to see how everyone else sees it too, how it looks as if you were seeing it from a crowd or a television set."

"You are an oddball so I'll leave you to your fixation with observation."

He watches her head back towards the teleporter pad. Some part of him had to admit she could divide his attention, not just with words, but the way her body language is able to fracture his focus is undeniable too. The way her body moves is unexpectedly arousing him yet it could also be her costume too. It follows the curves, the lines, and displays how well she maintains her figure. Their profession often demands that level of fitness even if you have powers though even more if you have none that are readily apparent.

The powers are of the mind, of the body, and others that basically aim to defy the limitations that seem to exist on the mortal frame. There is also the occasional male penchant for the exotic and the female interest in the mystifying. As for that deduction, there could be no clearer examples than Bruce and Diana as well as John Stewart and Shayera Hol, but more are sure to follow especially if Question risks involving himself with Huntress in anyway whatsoever. It seems bound to happen, he could not avoid her and she would be drawn to him, but of course he would not stroke his ego for the presumption.

There is almost noticeable sly grin on her face as she vanishes from the teleport pad and with that he felt certain that she saw her effect on him even with his lack of words and subtle attempts to conceal his momentary intoxication by her presence alone. He wonders how long it took before Wayne felt this way about Diana though of course he figures not long at all because he had seen the photographs the Parisian magazines had gotten of him dancing with Wonder Woman. The man almost never smiles and when he does it tends to be insincere at least in public though occasionally it can be very genuine, but with her, it is more than just a smile, he is actually grinning like a Cheshire cat.

Bruce as Batman appears to believe that relationships especially ones between costumes is a bad idea though as Vic through Question is certain of is that nothing is certain whether it is their profession or whoever they choose to let into their world or dare he think the word heart. Huntress, Helena, is already getting into his world, whether he wants her there or not, but this is not an obsession, at least he hopes it is not, it probably is not. However his life style seems to make discerning true things tricky. She seems to reciprocate his awkward gestures with more confident ones, but perhaps his only appear awkward to him.

"It upsets women to be, or not to be, stared at hungrily."

It is distinctly possible that Mignon McLaughlin was right about that, but then nothing is certain except uncertainty.

"Woman begins by resisting a man's advances and ends by blocking his retreat. "

It is curious that he should also think of Oscar Wilde at this moment too, but stranger things have happen before. There is also the idea that man is full of questions and a woman is a singular mystery. He snickers slightly at the notion of a man of questions considering his crime fighting alias yet there is truth in a woman as a mystery. He heads over to the teleporter and motions for a beam down to his car. It is assured this is not the last he will see of Huntress or Helena Bertinelli.


A/N 1: Question's first encounter with Huntress, it seems implied in Double Date that they were aware of each other before that meeting, so I took it step further given that their quarters were opposite each other in the Watchtower.

A/N 2: Question's examination of the roster files are meant to build towards his interest in Huntress... in Helena. He's also being watchful of certain others that are going to join the team. Plus more banter with Batman, I can't resist it somehow, it sounds funny to me even though they rarely seem to converse during the series.

A/N 3: I think I really got into a Question mindset between writing this and the first part of this story. Mignon McLaughlin is a real person, she wrote for Vogue among other publications in the 20th Century and as for Oscar Wilde, well both quotations are aimed at plot developments.