"Top story tonight, Presidential Candidate Lex Luthor makes a public apology of sorts for the battle and damages to his community, Lexor City, which was meant to provide for countless thousands who have been without permanent residence among other things for years."

The screen switches over to a replay of Superman and Luthor talking presumably about what probably set Superman off as well as what led to Marvel trying to derail whatever Superman is attempting by tunneling beneath Lexor City. At every turn either Marvel or Superman gets a hit in yet the longer the fight drags on, the more damage it does not and not just to the city.

"The battle set back the opening of Lexor City yet Luthor accepts the Man of Steel's apologies. He goes onto say that he will rebuild and repair Lexor City as part of his campaign promise to share the wealth readily with those most in need. As for Superman, he declined to comment further and as for Captain Marvel, he has not made his reappearance, but one can only guess what happen to him."

Superman took the bait and Marvel's presence only made it worse.

"He didn't just do that did he?" groans Huntress.

They did this with Luthor's help, but I'll need to break into one their fronts to prove it beyond all doubt.

"Yes, he did and I suspect Luthor was gunning for that for months," responds Question.

[+++]

It is an unspoken perception that Luthor even while running for office is trying and succeeding to get under the Man of Steel's skin. The two of them never saw eye to eye in the first place and during all the time that Luthor was in charge of Lexcorp. Nothing from that position had gotten him any closer to breaking or killing Superman. However with all that happen with Darkseid, he saw that messing and maybe even breaking Superman's mind is much more 'fun' than simply wasting billions in a vain effort to find a way to kill him, to clone him, to pay someone else to eliminate him, and the list goes on. Each and every time he got that much closer to running his company into the ground if not for Mercy Graves, she had pulled it back from bankruptcy while he was either in prison or on the run from the League.

She appears to have caved into him again and he unofficially is back to running the company. She retains her new position in name only as Question found out through circuitous search of Lexcorp's computer networks. He had broken into them before so it made no difference to do it again, both before and after what happen in Lexor City. Lexcorp's R&D Division for the past several months had been getting plenty of new technology through several dummy shipping corporations that were similarly handling shipments for fake cybernetic, nanotechnology, and software companies. Luthor is clearly up to something from a technological standpoint especially as the shipments had been increasing since the Dark Heart incident

Cadmus is either getting lazy or they are sanctioning whatever Luthor is doing that technology yet in either scenario Luthor is the unknown while the variables remain both the League and Cadmus.

She never admit it, but she had a soft spot for powerful men especially Lex and it is the very reason why she remains awkwardly loyal to him despite him never really treating her like a woman or an equal, but then Question would aim to never do such a thing to Huntress. He could still remember the way they had touched the outlines of each other's faces in the dark during that first night together.

The memories made him grin rather ridiculously beneath the mask. Huntress in the midst of finishing her food looks up at him with one of those familiar smiles he had seen on her face since that night.

"What are you grinning about?" chuckles Huntress.

"Just thinking," responds Question.

"You were doing more than thinking, you can't fool a girl for long Q," teases Huntress.

"You are getting good at that… I doubt that Batman would have been that quick."

"Well Batman isn't me and I think he would be just as admiring of Diana as you are of me right now."

"You are right, but we both know they have been having that dance for years now too."

"So League chat aside, anything new on Cadmus?"

"There is a front I am investigating… perhaps you would like to tag along?"

"Sounds like fun… I'd expect security would be crowding you if you went alone too."

"Then I'll to rely on you to keep them at bay… that is if you don't mind."

"You'll owe me… but I'll do it."

She wraps her arms around him and kisses him in one of those tender yet affectionate ways that baffles the regulars in much the same way that her kissing him elicited from Canary, but like before, she just ignores the crowd, if she is happy with him that is all that matters to her.

[+++]

"Care to tell me why we are breaking into an Air Force Base of all places?" whispers Huntress.

"Nathaniel Adams is who and as for what… you'll see it soon" whispers Question.

"You mean Mr. I-Am-Walking Radiation Regulator is in the Air Force?"

"How did you make the connection?"

"For starters I don't think they call him Captain for nothing and there were other tell tale signs."

"Even former or decommissioned military retain ingrained behavior patterns."

"So the why has something to do with his commission presumably?"

She learns fast, but then I'd expect nothing less after having her at my side this long.

"How did you bypass security to get us in here?"

"Every system is not without loop holes, without breaks, without gaps, and here I found out everything from as low as the janitorial staff to as high as a certain general who frequents this base when not on call by Cadmus… Wade Eiling and the Captain have history… not a truly amicable one either."

"So Eiling looks to recruit him back or else… after all the other messes from that Supergirl knockoff to what happen in Lexor City… they are getting desperate aren't they?"

"Perhaps, but even desperation is not without deadliness. Eiling shares the late General Hardcastle's prejudices in regards to our line of work or rather the more powerful ones we have worked in the past or my case… still do from time to time."

"Many of us could just walk away so then they would no longer have the perceived threat of an 'army' in the skies above them."

"It is not that simple…"

"It could be…"

"If it were… I wouldn't be doing this nor did what I did when you had come to me for help."

She caresses his cheek and kisses him roughly on the lips. He could be romantic in his own way even if he did not share her notions about romance.

[+++]

In a few moments, the camera sweeps passes where they just were and by now they are that much closer to the base's archives. He leaves the lights off and she figures it is better that way unless the archives had cameras in them too, say the pesky infrared variety yet somehow they are ordinary cameras that rely heavily on the lighting in the room instead of heat. One would think at a time like this, they would be jumpy about someone sneaking in here, which in some way made her wonder why he would be breaking in here instead of hacking to look this stuff up. His explanation would probably be something along the lines that the files would be doctored or falsified, which would make anything found unverifiable without source comparison so instead he would insist on going to the source.

He can be so predictable yet still surprise me… what's not to… love?

Huntress quiets the gulp at thinking the word love and sure enough Question found what he had come for, which is proof that Captain Nathaniel Adams is back on active duty as a special request made unsurprisingly by General Eiling. Atom being such a loyal soldier type is unlikely to resist the recall to duty for long if at all, but now they must sneak out the same way they snuck in, which works amazingly yet Question points out he knows the sewers better than most people. The Air Force Base was built over the old sewage system, which while no longer actively used, it is still connected to the newer pipelines plus it appears nobody had thought to install cameras down here at least not yet. This is entrance would presumably not work ever again because there is a notice to seal it off somewhere in the memo files, which was why he had chosen to exploit today of all days because tomorrow it would be gone.

There is still the matter of the Cadmus archives, but that would have to wait a few days especially if either of them really prefers skulking around without smelling worst than a skunk spray. He drives her home, she's ever so affectionate with kisses, but not overly so, most have to mean something though some could just be for the sake of indulging how it feels or tastes plus she is experimenting with gloss. Even when he would go into her place with her, they still did these things with the lights low or off, and for the time being, she does not mind though she'll eventually insist being able to see him fully. He would deal with that as it arises though until then they would do as they had done for weeks.

[+++]

The next few days pass without incident, which is not uncommon though even he had to take the time to rest or shower even when at first he found it strange to be overly concerned with hygiene to such a degree that he showers almost regularly. Aside from knowing that Eiling or one of his subordinates would approach Captain Atom did not mean Question would wait around for it to happen, but getting to presumably terabytes of Cadmus data would take time. It is once again the part to disguise his face, his hair and more so to leave no trace anywhere of the man that dons the guise of Question, but the man in the guise of Question is also falling in love with the woman in the guise of Huntress. He could only ponder ever so slightly if she is feeling similarly towards him.

He adjusts the car mirror once in en route to pick up Huntress in keeping with their own patterns of meeting so that there is nothing too predictable, no perceivable pattern to plot for Cadmus loves patterns or schedules, makes it simpler for them. He spots her and she looks ready for a night on the town to say the least. It made him smile behind the mask and she had given him some semblance of balance with this pursuit of Cadmus, but even that sounds like an oversimplification. More often than not he felt like he is disappearing to become Question and she had become his anchor to reality, to himself, a way to avoid or escape losing himself to this persona. It is not much of a drive though he found no irony in the address or the company name.

Nobody puts up a front called Tombstone Tools at the corner of Valley Avenue and Kings Street for nothing.

Simultaneously he is aware that Superman is teamed with Captain Atom today, but that only means any time that Atom is not on the Watchtower is an opening for Cadmus to wrangle him.

[+++]

It is humorous to watch local security try to bag Huntress and she beats them off with a grace that befits someone of her level of physical training. The guards rely too much on brute strength or their gadgetry, which she disarms from them by only doing as much as twisting then slamming their grip hand against some part of their upper body. Their groans of pain are the repetitive reminder that she is enjoying herself and keeping them off his back while he seeks out the nearest computer terminal. There is no password encryption on the terminal, but the data is hidden deep in the mainframe. These things always take time, but at least there is less chance of them leaving him with another dead end.

There it is, rigging download, but of course they encrypt each batch of files separately.

"You really know how to show a girl a good time, Q! When are we going out on a real date?"

Access is easy, cracking is hard, but it must be done, she can handle them.

"Shh! I'm trying to concentrate."

I'll make it up to you somehow, but right now need to focus on this.

"I'm not even in the Justice League anymore. You're lucky to have me along."

True enough Helena, but there's more to it than, there's always more and you know it.

"Hardly, you're drawn to my eccentric charm."

I'm either getting bolder or part of me wants to say things like that to her.

Huntress spent last several minutes body tossing ordinary looking security guards and based on their fighting ability, she is probably right to mutter pathetic rent-a-cops. The room is full of plenty of broken cubicle walls, smashed tables, broken chairs, and even a banged up copy machine, well that one guard did get flung into rather roughly. This is an enclosed room even with cubicles this size, one wonders how people can put up with cubicles, but then some can learn to ignore physical dimensions and focus on the tasks in front of them like Question.

"I'm done," chirps Question.

He spots the one downed by the impact of her boots hitting him square in the chest getting up.

"So am I," boasts Huntress.

"Not quite," retorts Question.

He follows that up those words by quickly severing the flat screen monitor from the table then chucks it in a direction parallel to the side of her shoulder and her eyes follow as it passes within inches of her then smacks into the chest of a guard she swore was out cold. Her surprise is short lived then she looks back to him sensing somewhere inside him is someone could fight yet only when necessary or allowances of subtlety perhaps.

"You get what you came for? "
"I believe so. If there's a link between Luthor and Cadmus, I'll find it here."

What is she planning? I know the look, I have seen it before.

"Which leaves the rest of our evening tantalizingly free."
"There are three terabytes of data here. I'll be busy for days..."

An overture, must think of something, did not anticipate that, but she did ask when we would go on a real date.

"Uh... dinner and a movie?" suggests Question.
"It's a start," answers Huntress coyly.

As for what movie and where to eat, those are the questions for now and there is also no way I can stay on good terms with her if I simply take it from her and why would this bother me. It is unethical and emotionally stupid, wait a second, what am I thinking? She likes making me squirm, that or she genuinely wants to do something couples do instead of me working myself to exhaustion… and death?

[+++]

"I prefer for us to go out to dinner…."

"That's doable."

"…Without the costumes."

Question inwardly balks at the idea.

"Come on Q… I have waited this long."

He knows she is right, but even so he hesitates, which is probably irritating her. They roughly undress each other from their costumes. He had seen her without the mask, without the cape, but this is new to her without the skin tight upper body suit or her high heeled boots. As for her, it is a new experience to see him out of his self-same suits and feel his skin against her own as she drags him into the shower. The water feels cold at first yet both adjust to the shift from chill to warm yet the longer they stay beneath the shower head, the more likely the water will get cold again yet neither seem to care that much about the temperature after awhile. This is decidedly an uneasy and unfamiliar experience for him unless his slight awkwardness means nothing to him or to her.

As he kisses her, her nails softly travel down his back, and somewhere in all this steam she starts sounding like she is really enjoying herself between the audible gasps and low moans. She nearly starts to scratch him as a way to entice him to go further even though she is aware perhaps of him feeling unsure if he should be doing this or how he should be doing this. He is ever so gentle about it only as he has little experience with this and everything else he had ever seen about it feels like an inadequate teacher for approaches. He pins her against the far wall then shifts to kissing her neck softly though when she can, she returns the 'favor' more roughly.

She thinks about almost letting him off the hook for a public place dinner in exchange for him staying the night here for a change. She had plenty of DVDs for starters, being a Bertinelli still had its advantages with some amount of inheritance.

For now she would just enjoy being the source of his affections. He could be coarse and unrefined yet she have it no other way now because it is part of what he is, part of who she believes she is falling in love with again tonight. She saunters out ahead of him hoping that he can't take his eyes off her; she enjoys it more when he stares at her now, and after a bit she pulls on a light bathrobe before slipping out to change into her new short lavender and plum shaded dress. He on the other hand puts only about half his clothes back on since he is leaving his buttoned down shirt among other things off. He comes up behind her as she is cooking, which is something he had not know about her though he did wonder if she did some times.

"Smells good…"

"Dinner will be ready soon…"

"I wasn't referring to the food…"

She smiles and pecks him lightly on the cheek then winks before hitting his hip when he was looking to see what she kept in her fridge in terms of beverages. It is a fairly quiet meal though probably one of the better ones he had in years, not he could not cook himself, he usually only got with whatever kept him full and running instead of 'bothering' with meals of this preparation caliber. Both are slow to eat as she is being rather flirty under the table and here far from prying eyes he dares to grab her foot or leg when she does it. She drags him again to the couch though he resists less than with the shower and what is more is both shower as well as dinner had worn him down.

It did not matter that he is tired. It only matters that he is here with her. She pins him to the couch with her arms tightly wrapped around him as if worrying that he disappear, he had a habit of doing that on occasion, and he took less pride in the ability the more often he is with her. It surprises him just a bit that she chooses to watch Maltese Falcon though he picks up on possibly why by the time it gets to the scene where Sam Spade meets Ruth Wonderly.

"I haven't lived a good life. I've been bad, worse than you could know," admits Ruth.
"You know, that's good, because if you actually were as innocent as you pretend to be, we'd never get anywhere," commends Sam.

The plot involves how Spade's partner was killed while helping Brigid apparently and so she tries to persuade Sam to finish the case despite the personal risks involved by him helping her. He gets himself in deep by helping her except he's got no options other than to see it through.

"When a man's partner is killed, he's supposed to do something about it. It doesn't make any difference what you thought of him. He was your partner and you're supposed to do something about it. And it happens we're in the detective business. Well, when one of your organization gets killed, it's-it's bad business to let the killer get away with it, bad all around, bad for every detective everywhere," narrates Sam to himself.

Spade gets both the police as well as whoever is after the Falcon. Spade's partner Archer was murdered as well as the alleged suspect that he was tailing, which something else is going on clearly. Detective Polhaus and Lt. Dundy grill Spade yet it is clear they are impeding any routes to resolving the case. Spade encounters Ruth again except she is calling herself Brigid O'Shaughnessy now. Spade agrees to investigate the murders except then he gets Joel Cairo on his case about what is probably the Maltese Falcon. He discovers in hindsight that Brigid and Joel are acquainted plus what is more Kasper "The Fat Man" Gutman is the one who is after the Falcon.

The situation gets worse before the end as Gutman baits Spade using Brigid in order to get the alleged Falcon back from Spade after the late Captain Jacobi weathered fire as well as dying to get the statuette to Spade. It turns it out it is a fake plus Gutman and Cairo get away while the third man, Wilmer is left to take the fall though Brigid is also getting time because she killed Archer as Wilmer only killed Thursby and Jacobi.

"I hope they don't hang you, precious, by that sweet neck. Yes, angel, I'm gonna send you over. The chances are you'll get off with life. That means if you're a good girl, you'll be out in 20 years. I'll be waiting for you. If they hang you, I'll always remember you," says Sam to Brigid.

After the movie end, Question wonders if she chose this movie on purpose or she just enjoys film noir. He dismisses the thought train, it is just the two of them taking in a movie, but of course by reflex he analyzes it in relation to their own burgeoning romance.

"You hardly spoke at all during the movie, I know there's some sort of rule that you are suppose to keep quiet in a theater, but its just us Q…" murmurs.

"Sometimes I get to engrossed to do anything except let the sights preoccupy my attention and perhaps it is time I told you my name… my real name."

She looks at him rather peculiar yet moves closer to him.

"My name is…Vic Sage," whispers Question.

"Vic as in Victor?" whispers Helena.

"Yes that too…"

She smiles widely before kissing him on the lips, he wonders for a second if he made her life more dangerous with that revelation, but even Sam Spade had to take risks with a woman who had a shady past. His like is not exactly squeaky clean either, but the past is just part of the character, the rest is the ever present now in her embrace. He is too tired to go home now plus she did look like she wants him to stay night so for both practical and personal concerns, he will be staying here with her. Cadmus could wait a few hours more even though he suspects the countdown is already ticking off for some time now already.


A/N 1: This one begins between Clash and Question Authority then continues into the first few minutes of Question Authority. The part that happens in Helena's place is made up.

A/N 2: Things get a little more physical between them though Question is still hesitant to reveal his face to her, but knowing her... she can be persuasive in her own way. It is never really established on-screen, but I think that she knows his name, she just frequently refers to him as Q or babydoll. So I am supposing he tells her name somewhere along the way.

A/N 3: If you ever played Splinter Cell, you know that Sam Fisher frequently breaks into government installations or supposedly impossible to break into places, that's kind of why I had them breaking into an AFB. There's no way it would be officially told that Captain Atom or rather Captain Nathaniel Adams had his commission reactivated.

A/N 4: Why The Maltese Falcon? The hints are in dialogue lifted from the movie itself and I'm a Bogart fan as well as film noir. Otherwise enjoy... really had fun with the last part of this one.