The Dark Dame

by OneHorseShay

The Mob has quietly ran Gotham City for decades but 'The Bat' and a mad green haired clown threaten to bring their whole world down on top of their heads along with Metropolis' 'Man of Tomorrow' making an unexpected appearance to complicate things further for the criminal underworld. (Jade/Freddie, Sam/Beck, Sam/Cat Friendship) Fusion Fic.

12. Partners?

Hello dear reader! I know it's been a while since I published, but I've been busy writing, so there are more updates for my stories by the end of the month and into the New Year.

JadeElizabethOliver: Thank you and don't worry, they'll be more Jeddie as the story progresses.

Fanfic-Reader-88: Beck is only waiting because of his friendship and past with Jade, but that patience has its limits. The cops are a mixed bag with a leadership that is obviously corrupt. It's all about point-of-view about whether a redhead botanist's actions would be heroic or villainess.

Challenge King: Thank you and I hope you enjoy this chapter.

Xemtlenc: I would say that is an oversimplification of his position with Jade as 'The Bat' that will be explained further in this chapter. Cat is quite motivated to seek justice for Robbie.

Twilight Warrior 627: The Mob in Gotham is more of a powder keg compared to how they have historically ran in New York during the '30s.

The issues between the Bat and Superman are different than how they could play out in the animated crossover is that they got to know each other before the masks and investigated without them. As people are matching up the characters, yes things will really start to heat up.

I'd like to give some thanks to Illusorygentleman for Beta-reading this chapter.

A number of people have updated their stories since the last time I've updated, Fanfic-Reader-88 with his M-rated story, 'The Woman With The Golden Touch', an AU to his Freddie/Trina series; PD31 to his 'When Something Better Comes Along', Twilight Warrior 627's 'Walk by Faith', Xemtlenc's stories too numberious for me to list here and Illusorygentleman and SVAD's epic sequel, 'Killer Tuna Redux 2: Love is a Five Way Street'.

Happy Reading!

Rating: T, Violence

Chapter 11

Conference Room #3

Ellsworth Building

Gotham City, NJ

Mason stood behind his seat, resting his hands on the top of the headrest and lazily asked with a confident smirk on his face, "So what do you want to talk about, Beck?" The way he over pronounced the 'B' in his name showing a clear lack of respect for the man in the makeup.

Beck slipped off the table and took the seat previously held by Mrs. Lee, relaxed back and propping his feet up on the right corner of the table. He lazily kept his .45 on his lap, ready to shoot Mason if he tried anything. He did debate whether Mason's seat had a steel plate inside it, as to avoid the risk of being shot in the back with anything short of an armor-piercing rifle round.

"How about the part where you set me up to either get arrested or if Gary had his way, get me killed?"

The elder mobster chuckled with a glance to the table before meeting Beck's eyes again. "Business… just as it was business for you to wreck your own, and the others', speakeasies and gambling halls to rob them and cut me out of my share. If you wanted a bigger cut, I would have just given it to you and frankly, I could have overlooked you having a little fun with all that you've done for me, but… Beck… you are becoming too much of a liability."

Mason walked over to his small liquor cabinet and picked up his rectangular liquor bottle and began to pour himself a drink. "As much as I would have liked to pretend otherwise, there was no way I would have convinced Quincy and Lee that you weren't the Joker, despite how convenient pinning it on Steven appeared."

He turned and took a quick sip from his brandy and finished, "Oh, I could have bought you a little time, but in the end, I had to give you up to maintain the fragile peace. If Luciano has taught us anything, it is 'War is bad for business'."

Beck tilted his head to the side, contemplating the cold logic behind his decision. It was the most beneficial decision for him—if he had pulled it off, but since it was so cold and calculated, it disregarded loyalty. However, he perhaps had nothing to complain about on that front as Mason had pointed out- he didn't have any problem betraying his boss.

"I mean, really…" Mason walked back towards the table and waved his free hand up and down and asked, "What is all this? Dressing up as a clown, hitting our places, just being a genuine nuisance?"

Beck grinned, slipping back into his role as a mad clown, "It's a statement… it's a… persona that I can wear while I tear this whole freaking thing down on top of all of your heads."

The mob boss raised an eyebrow, actually intrigued by his top enforcer and moneymaker's bold statement. "Tear it down? The very thing that lines your pockets so very, very well?"

"With what you've turned it into? Yes. We stopped providing a demanded service for the people in favor of cheap liquor and entertainment—one artificially raised by the politicians in your pocket—and it's not just that we aren't protecting our neighborhoods anymore. We've become parasites on the city, feeding off the people."

Mason literally waved him off as he countered, "Nonsense. As you said, we are giving the people what they want. So what if they have to go to our places because the politicians raise the taxes or limit the gambling houses? It makes the teetotalers happy and all those do-gooders against gambling and we still make a profit. Everyone is winning with our setup."

Mason walked closer to Beck, unafraid that he was still holding a gun, to continue his point, "The city is prospering. Crime is down with us in charge. You can walk down the street without being harassed or mugged or anything else happening to you. Bloody Hell, Beck, your ex-girlfriend's parents would still be alive if we were running the city back then because the street thugs knew if they tried such a thing on such a prominent target in this town, they would end up washed ashore in the Bay."

Beck countered, perhaps with less heart than he expected, "It's not going to stay that way. People can feel it in the air the… weight on their shoulders that the world is growing more and more corrupt around them and they're not going to take it anymore. Where their politicians answer to them rather than the small groups that control it all here, especially when they have a glimmer of hope watching Superman tear the mob apart in Metropolis and the Bat showing that people can fight back even here. When you throw in the fact you looked the other way as Quincy started to sell heroin and Lee, opium, it's going to explode within the next year. So much for the 'no drugs' rule of the old days, right?"

Mason sat his glass on the table and spat in disgust, "Of course I'm looking the other way. It's the perfect way to get rid of them once and for all. Yes, crime will spike with all the related robberies, muggings, and assaults to feed the drug addicts' habits, but the Feds will have their hands full with them for decades… leaving everything to us and we… we can be the ones to restore order."

Beck contemplated Mason's words, trying to figure out the flaw in his boss—or perhaps former—boss's plan and honesty in his true motivations in dealing with Quincy and Lee's expansion into the drug industry.

The crime boss pushed further, "The criminal isn't afraid of the cops or the revolving door of the penitentiary. They're afraid of us and what we'll do to them if they step out of line. The city needs us. I didn't realize that you had become so naive... so idealistic."

"I've seen plenty of the dark underbelly of human nature working for you and that is not naivety. I'm seeing the human cost while you wax philosophically."

Mason walked over to him and snatched him by the collar, pulling him to his feet and looking him dead in the eyes.

Beck shoved the barrel of the gun under Mason's chin, but the mob boss didn't show a hint of fear in his eyes that he could be a hair's breath away from death.

"Don't you talk to me about costs or trivializing human lives. If you have forgotten boy, I was not one of those officers that held up in the shadows away from the fighting, but in the trenches during the Great War. I saw suffering on an unimaginable scale, so don't lecture me on the 'human cost'."

Beck held a defiant gaze, showing that he thought that perhaps Mason had become desensitized in seeing such carnage.

Mason shoved Beck back in his seat in disgust then turned to walk back to his seat. He pick up his glass and chugged the remainder of his drink. He slammed the glass back on the table, nearly cracking it. He turned and looked back at a slightly stunned Beck and continued, "Politicians and police are corrupt. They always have been and always will be. I'm just offering an alternative that has served the city quite well and will continue to do so in the future."

"And what about Robbie? You thought the solution was to kill him? You thought you could sacrifice him on the altar?"

"Lee was concerned, Quincy a little less so. You knew he had the goods on us with our businesses. I just… looked the other way. I have to keep them happy to a point before I can get the Feds to get rid of them. You know how tedious the peace is between us."

"And Robbie has to pay the price?" Beck snarled, grinding his teeth at the thought of his high school friend lying in a hospital bed.

"If it is a choice between him and a mob war that will get more people killed-innocent people in the crossfire—then yes. He knew the risks when he took that job. The price for peace is high."

Beck could look a bit menacing with the white face paint and the dark eye makeup with the manically painted red smile with just a bland expression, but the look turned darker with narrowed eyes and down turned corners of his mouth.

Mason wasn't impressed, the horrors he had seen made such a display fruitless. He lazily asked, "Are you going to try to kill me? Are you going to 'tear this whole thing down' after what I told you what was at stake? Does your naïve vision of the world mean that much to you?"

Beck remained quiet for several seconds, letting his pointer finger restlessly tap on the side of his pistol. "I'm going to kill Lee or that flying Boy Scout is going to get her, so that's one side of the triangle gone… then Quincy will see his opening to move against you. It doesn't matter which one of you wins because you'll have a war on your hands."

"And if that war happens, it'll be blood in the streets—innocent blood—that you caused."

"If that happens, it'll wake the people up from their apathy to stop you, won't it?"

The English mobster cracked a smile and mocked, "Now which one of us is being callous about the 'human cost'?"

The Joker turned a dark glare to Mason as he got up from his seat, holstered his weapon to his shoulder holster then adjusted the lapels of his long coat. He grinned, slipping back into the mad clown that now purely existed as a defense mechanism, and stated, "You have a nice day."

He turned and headed out the door, carelessly whistling as he walked out the door, trying his best to shrug off Mason's words that bore into his mind.

In Route to Nozu

The ride was quiet as Jade drove Freddie and herself toward the high class Japanese restaurant after she picked him up from his hotel. After the stress of what happened surrounding Robbie's kidnapping and bungled rescue had died down, there was an awkward silence between them, starting with nothing being said of her having to pick him up.

"So…" Jade broke the uncomfortable silence by asking, "May I ask a question?"

Freddie was partially startled from her breaking the silence and glanced over to her with a bashful look that he had honed growing up in Kansas.

The tone of her voice indicated to Freddie that it was a deeply private question which she was about to ask and he was expecting it to be about the elephant in the room- the whole thing about how they spent their free time in costumes punching criminals. However, he wasn't sure if he was comfortable speaking about such a subject, as other than his mother and one person from home, no one knew his secret, but there was no point in denying it to her as they shared in that aspect of their lives.

He cleared his throat and answered, "Ah, sure, of course."

Jade licked her lips, stalling for a second to ask without coming off as insulting, "What… are you?"

"Oh… ah…" Freddie knotted his brow, certainly not expecting that as her first question. "What am I?"

"I mean…" Jade tried to find the right words as to get an answer, but not offend any more than she had to, "you… you obviously can't be human. You fly, you have super strength and bullets bounce off of you, so are you… um… a god? An angel? Magic?"

The handsome news reporter cracked an awkward smile having wandered the same thing when he was younger and his powers first starting to manifest. He attempted to answer in a disarming manner as the news would have to be quite shocking, "My mom certainly thought I could have been one of those when my parents found me—they had been trying for children without much luck and then I literally dropped into their lives. They saw it as a miracle to have found me."

Jade half smiled, her nerves easing with his disarming and upbeat tone. "Okay, then what?"

"I'm not magic, a god, or an angel…" he said with a deep sigh. "I'm Kryptonian, actually."

Jade looked from the corner of her eye. "Kryptonian?"

"As in I'm a species other than human… not from this planet."

Jade slammed on her foot on the brakes, bringing traffic to a stop and looked to him with a flabbergasted expression. She mouthed like a fish out of water for several seconds then asked, "You're… you're an alien?"

Freddie held back a sigh at seeing Jade's stunned expression, perhaps laced with a little fear. He kept his voice calm, hoping to keep her calm, "Yes. I wasn't born on this planet, so that makes me an extraterrestrial, but I've lived here since I was a newborn. I was raised on a Kansas farm. I celebrate the Fourth of July like everyone else. I like a good baseball game with a hot dog and soda on a summer afternoon. Birth aside, Miss West, I'm as American as it gets."

Jade tried to wrap her head around the concept that she was riding and talking with an alien, a real life alien, something that would have come out of a science fiction like H.G. Wells or Buck Rogers or something. He looked and acted human—so easily that she hadn't suspected for a moment that he wasn't like her and everyone else. She couldn't reconcile for the moment the Freddie she had gotten to know with the popular culture's idea of what alien life would be like if it existed. She thought the angel or god angles would have been a more reasonable explanation.

The sound of a honking horn behind the car pulled her attention back to the present. She looked in her rearview mirror to see an irate driver honking his horn. She softly pressed the accelerator to slowly accelerate the vehicle so traffic could pick back up. She knew she didn't want to have this conversation while on the road, so she spotted the first free parking spot on the side of the street and pulled the high performance sports car into place. She turned in her seat and asked, clearly trying to get a grip on what he said, "So let me get this straight so we're on the same page. You… are an alien? From… outer space?"

Freddie smirked, finding it a bit amusing that she wasn't readily grasping the explanation. "Yes, I'm an alien from outer space."

Jade licked her gloss covered lips then let out a slow breath, her mind still racing. "Okay, so you're an alien with powers that make you indistinguishable from a god even though you look just like the rest of us? Wow… why… why are you here? Are you part of some 'alien invasion' thing?"

Freddie did the unexpected in Jade's eyes and laughed, just genuinely laughed which just made the girl more confused instead of fearful.

"What's so funny? You've never watched a sci-fi movie before? That's usually how this goes…"

"Yes I have. I love sci-fi. I love H.G. Wells and Raymond, but I'm not part of some vanguard for an alien invasion. I told you, I was just a baby when I got here."

"Why? Why stick you in a spaceship and send you here? Seems like a lot of trouble if they're just leaving a baby on someone's doorstep then running away. Especially something…" Jade took a moment realizing that she was dehumanizing him as she carried on, "I mean… someone like you."

The reporter glanced at the dash of the vehicle and struggled with an apprehensive expression. "Because… their world was dying and it was their only chance to make sure I could live. They stuck me in the spaceship and sent me here, giving me the best possible chance to survive before the planet exploded and… they died… along with the rest of my species. I am the last of my kind… I am alone."

Jade stared into his eyes, seeing his optimistic gaze seeming to dim. It took a few seconds for the gravity of what he said hit her then she felt sick on her stomach. She had lost her parents, but he had lost not only his biological parents, but his entire people. She placed a hand on her stomach, willing herself to keep the contents of her stomach down.

Freddie regarded her with a worried expression. "Are you okay?"

The wave of emotion washing over Jade from processing what he had said and the memory of losing her parents caused a hint of moisture to form in her eyes and answered with a sorrowful laced voice, "I'm sorry."

The handsome reporter cracked a smile, reached over to place a hand on her right one that hand moved over to her lap and reassuringly answered, "Thank you. It's okay, I'm okay. I never knew that world or those people so I don't have painful memories."

The awkwardness was palatable as they sat there in silence for several seconds, neither one sure what to say next. The next step fell on Freddie as he cleared his throat and asked, actually fearful of the answer. "Does it bother you that I'm not human?"

Jade looked down at her lap, where he was still gently resting his palm on her hand, taking a moment to really try to contemplate such a question after the initial shock wore off- not just the news about his origin, but what he had lost. Did it bother her that he wasn't a human being? It had been just an evening and two days, but he had wormed himself into her life like no other, even with Beck, which took six months before they became a couple in high school and at no point during the ensuing relationship had she felt this comfortable with him.

She didn't want to feel uncomfortable with Freddie. She wanted… she wasn't sure what she exactly wanted from him, but she certainly knew that she didn't want to look at him any differently. She wanted to look at him as the good man that she had seen since she met him. She tentatively smiled and answered, "I don't know what to feel. I couldn't tell the difference. You look like any other guy—okay, better looking than most guys, but still a man. I don't know how to resolve that at the moment."

Freddie gave her a thankful smile with her at least being honest with her about her feelings. He was pretty overwhelmed himself when he found out he wasn't human. Thinking back on his own experience, he found the situation humorous in hindsight and shared the joke, "You were expecting a little green man or something with tentacles coming out of its face?"

The dark haired brunette snorted out, unexpectedly letting out a laugh, and answering, "Would you blame me?"

"No, I grew up on those same stories—I loved them by the way, even before I found out what I was. Less so, after I suppose."

The question of how she felt about him being not of this world or the same species as her was set aside for the moment and replaced with confusion on her part. "You had to find out? You didn't know?

"I told you, I was a baby when I got here. My parents didn't tell me the truth until I started showing… my powers. That's was the biggest shock finding out that my parents weren't my parents—well, I was told that I was orphaned by my mother's cousin—but I always saw them as my parents. I thought I was just a little weird at first. I would start hearing things that I shouldn't have heard… I started seeing things I shouldn't have been able to see…"

Jade couldn't help but crack a smile and teased, "Like seeing girls' underwear?"

Freddie pursed his lips, still finding the incident embarrassing years later. "I accidentally saw through the locker room wall and into the girls' locker room, okay? You happy?"

Jade raised an eyebrow and fought back a laugh, but was unsuccessful.

Freddie followed her seconds later at hearing the absurdity of what he had spoken.

Jade finished laughing, "That must have been an awkward experience—or a fun one."

The blue eyed alien half smirked, clearly a still a little embarrassed about the whole situation.

"I guess awkward for you… at least I know I'm not riding with some pervert alien."

Freddie raised an eyebrow over the rim of his glasses, clearly a getting a bit tired of the teasing.

Jade saw she was reaching the limit of her teasing, so she laughed, "Okay, okay, I'm joking. As long as you don't want to suck my blood or dissect me or do the whole 'Mars Need Women' thing or anything else, I think we'll be fine."

She turned her hand over that his hand was resting on and gave a soft squeeze to assure him all joking aside, she was showing that she was accepting him for who and what he was… person just a bit different from her.

Freddie smiled, feeling a flood of relief someone other than his parents knowing and accepting him.

Jade pulled her hand away and took the steering wheel. She glanced into her review mirror and turned on her turn signal. She pulled the car back into traffic to continue on their way to Nozu.

Freddie let out a tension relieving breath, feeling that things were comfortable enough for him to get a few answers to his questions, "Can I ask you a few questions?"

Jade licked her lips and let out soft sigh escape her lips as she expected that he would have questions of his own but that didn't mean that she was up for answering them.

"Am I going to see this in the paper?"

The reporter shook his head and answer in a gibed manner, "No, this is entirely off the record. It's just between you and me."

"Okay, ask away."

"Why do you dress up as a giant bat?"

Jade paused, debating how she was going to openly talk about a secret that only two other people in the world knew. She attempted to give herself a few extra moments to come up with a real answer, "I thought we had this discussion yesterday during lunch at my place?"

"We did, but that was when I thought it was an academic discussion about the idea of someone having to take the law into their own hands—to become that symbol of hope, not that it was you risking life and limb."

"What's the difference if it's me or someone else?"

"There is a difference between you doing it and someone else."

"And what's that?"

Freddie paused in answering, knowing that if he said it the wrong way that she would assume a different reason for his concern.

Jade jumped to a conclusion anyway and asked, "What? Because I'm a woman?"

Freddie resisted rolling his eyes, feeling that he was about to have a conversation similar to one he had with Carly on a number of occasions, but he simply wasn't going to back down from his position. "Yes, but not the way you're probably thinking. The average woman simply isn't as physically capable as the average man. That's simple biology and you're usually taking on men that are above average, armed and more than one at a time. You do have a distinct disadvantage in a fight. Individual police officers don't take on those odds, at least not the stupid ones."

Jade cocked and eyebrow and pointed out with a bit of a smug expression, "I'm not exactly average."

"No you are not, but as I said, you can't deny that you're at a distinct disadvantage when you're out fighting crime."

"I'm as much at a disadvantage as female cops."

"But female police officers have law enforcement powers, guns and backup—none of which you have."

Jade was becoming a bit agitated with her darkened gaze and clipped tone, "You don't have any of that either."

Freddie raised an eyebrow questioning about whether she was going to suggest that it was a fair comparison to him. "That's clearly different. I can handle anything they throw at me. Bullets bounce off of me and you just questioned whether or not I was a god or an angel."

She gently bit her tongue, not wanting to admit how easily he could turn her words back onto her. "So I'm supposed to sit on the sidelines because I'm a mere mortal and you're… whatever?"

"I just explained to you the disadvantages, so stop trying to twist my words with what I mean as either a sexist or somehow looking down at you for being human. Why are you trying to turn this into an argument with me? Do you do this with everyone that has a legitimate concern about you? I know we've only known each other for two days, but that doesn't mean I can't care what happens to you."

Jade was mollified for the moment as his questions had struck a nerve as in a way, he was right. She had always put up a shield to protect herself whenever her friends tried to show their concern for her. Cat had been faithful to her since middle school and Tori… she had been a stubborn girl that hadn't been scared off even after several years of antagonism. She pushed those that would care about her and thankfully, some weren't scared away.

Sikowitz was just as concerned, perhaps even more so that she would go out and strike terror into criminals. She was surprised that he hadn't just gotten to the point of forbidding her from doing it anymore. His words may not have been enough to actually stop her from going out, but that didn't mean it wouldn't have given her pause as he had been such a father figure to her after her parents' death.

The businesswoman licked her lips then answered with a contrite tone, "I'm sorry… I didn't mean to twist your words. I just… I don't want to be helpless and despite all the money I have and the power that goes with it, I can't help but feel that way sitting in an office overlooking the city that is sinking deeper and deeper into despair every day. As crazy as it sounds, dressing up as The Bat and going out there to stop a mugger or some burglar from breaking into some place and robbing someone of their lifesavings or… preventing some other child from having to grow up without their parents… it's the only time I ever truly feel like I'm really making a difference here."

Freddie's heart went out to her, feeling her loss and sensing that perhaps she was trying in vain to undo that loss. However, that would be a discussion for another time about her true psychological reasons about becoming a vigilante. He thought he'd turn to a safer topic and asked, "Why a bat specifically though?"

Jade slowed to a stop light then answered, "The reason for the bat… I've always had this… darkness in me. I don't know why… always had a pretty negative outlook on life… my parents' death is probably the source of most of it. There were a lot of people afraid of me throughout junior and senior high school. I was the resident scary mean girl and I cultivated it… I realized that I could use that… I needed that because skill was not going to be enough…"

She got quiet for a moment then continued as if her mind was someplace else, someplace dark and away from the rest of the world, "Criminals are a superstitious and cowardly lot. So my disguise had to be able to strike terror into their hearts. I had to become a creature of the night, black, terrible... A bat in the dark."

Freddie nodded along, seeing the logical in her choice of attire and persona. He felt a twinge of fear that she would lose herself in such an identity, that she couldn't separate the woman from the monster she created. He realized if that day ever came, it would be the day he would fear.

He took a breath and quietly asked, "And you're not going to stop until you bring down the mob?"

The light changed green and she slowly accelerated the high performance car. "Right… right, when I bring down the mob. I was starting small. If I scare the low level guys from being able to do their jobs, that would cut into their profits. Then move my way up doing the same thing where they would start making mistakes to make up for the losses that couldn't be covered up and the higher ups would have to be arrested."

She passed a glance to him and gently mocked, "I couldn't exactly start at the top as you did with the Metropolis mob. You just went in and busted their racketeering rings, prostitution houses—catching a few politicians, I hear—and whatever other operations they had."

Freddie lazily shrugged. "I started with a basic investigation because it wasn't much of a secret, then I heard a few businesses said they weren't going to pay for protection any longer and of course, the mob boys didn't like it. I just showed up to stop them from hurting anyone… then they were promptly arrested for publicly making the threats and soon admitted to trying to shake them down. The prostitution houses… you wouldn't believe how many were just runaways that weren't even sixteen… I had to go in and bust them up. They're lucky I didn't tear the buildings down on their heads."

Jade didn't have to imagine such things. She knew of the brothels in Gotham and suspected some of the girls working for them were underage. She just hadn't hit them yet. It was on her 'to do' list.

The reporter's expression cheered up and teased, "Is that you admitting that I may have a point about you going out and being a vigilante?"

Jade smirked and passed a glance to him. "That me acknowledging that I'm not a super-being and shouldn't hold it against you? Then yes, I'll concede to that."

"Well, then don't…" he said sternly, showing clear contemplation in sharing the truth that his power wasn't everything. "None of all that stuff I said actually mattered outside of the moment it occurred in. The racketeers got off, the sex clubs reopened, and everything returned to normal."

"But Metropolis is so much cleaner and safer now…" Jade said, cocking her head, wondering where this was going. "And I haven't heard much of anything about the mob there… are you saying you didn't have a part in that?"

"Yes and no…" he said with a raised eyebrow. "Superman is triage… in the crisis, doing what needs to be done to keep people safe in the moment. But it's my other job, my other life where I get to be me… just Freddie Benson… that made the difference. I wrote the report and the articles that forced the public at large to question the shadowy deals and corrupt officials of my city. An expose here and an opinion piece there did more good for the people of my city than my powers combined."

"I don't buy that…" Jade said, shaking her head and rolling her eyes.

"I'm serious…" he said, trying to reassure her and show her that there was a better way than just being a vigilante. "What we do with our 'free time' serves a vital purpose and saves lives, but you should consider using your civilian life to do even more… rather than attacking some crazed homeless man who mugs a stranger, how about finding him a home, or building a decent shelter. You certainly have the funds for it…"

"I have any number of foundations supporting just that and with Roosevelt's 'New Deal', money is pouring in to solve those problems, but they're not problems being solved by throwing money at it. That homeless man in your example isn't mugging for food or homeless veteran or mentally ill that needs help where my money is being put to good use, he's mugging because he wants to take from someone else, so he doesn't have to work for it."

A silence fell between them for another mile until Freddie brought up, "Speaking of crazed people… why did you let Mister Oliver go?"

She licked her lips and passed a glance to her rearview mirror. "It's complicated."

Freddie softly pointed out that it was complicated, but quite simple, "It's really not: You just don't want to put your friend in prison. That sounds pretty simple to me."

Jade took a soft breath then slowly let it out, debating whether she should explain herself further. "Why did you ask if you already knew?"

"I wanted to see if you would admit it to yourself."

The millionaire raised an eyebrow, surprised that he could play the verbal mind games. "He's not just my friend, he's… look, he was my first love and we were a couple throughout all of high school, but… it just didn't work out for a number of reasons. It doesn't mean I don't still care about him."

The journalist nodded and speculated, "And you just can't bring yourself to take him down?"

The car pulled to another stop light and Jade sadly smiled, letting her gaze look off to the side, and answered, "No… but what good are my convictions if I can't follow through with them when it really counts?"

"Love complicates things, be it friendship, family or romantic. They always have a way of twisting a situation in unexpected ways. We can strive to hold up our convictions, but… we're not perfect and we don't really have to be. It's alright to feel conflicted."

"Then isn't that just two sets of standards? Rules for them and rules for everyone else?"

"If you think they should just get away with what they do, then yes, but that doesn't mean that you're the one that has to put the cuffs on them. Look at it this way: would a police officer arrest his or her own mother or would someone have the decency to send another officer to do that? You're not solely responsible to bring people to justice… some would say you already don't have any place to do that anyway in being a vigilante."

Jade focused on the road for their safety (not really his) and the other motorists by watching the light and to avoid meeting his eyes. "So says a vigilante himself, but I guess you're right, it's just… I don't want to see Beck or Sam in jail. I just wish…"

"Wish what?"

"That they hadn't gone down that path."

Freddie nodded along, unable to add anything that would be helpful.

The light changed and the rest of the ride was silent to the Japanese restaurant.

The high-end sports car pulled into a parking spot on the far side of the parking lot as Jade hoped to avoid any scratches to her vehicle.

The reporter stepped out of the vehicle and walked around to help Jade out as well, mostly to be polite, but also for modesty's sake as she was wearing a fairly short dress and it was a trick to step out of the vehicle without some kind of exposure. He offered his hand and she accepted it with a gracious smile, stepping out of the vehicle with a sense of grace.

They had only taken a few steps away from the vehicle when Freddie's phone rang and immediately pulled it from his pocket. He recognized the number from the Daily Planet and instantly answered it, "Hello?"

The Editor-in-Chief of the paper barked on the other end, "Freddie, I need you to drop your exposé on Miss West and get right on the story of the attempted murder of their D.A. and if there's any connecting to what's left of the Metropolis Mob—and I'm not interested in that Bat freak I heard was at the scene. I know you were interested in investigating him, but I don't care. Let the Gotham Gazette have it. If you can, see if you can get any information on Shapiro from the hospital. If you haven't bumbled it up, maybe you've made a decent impression with Miss West and she can help you." The chief added as an afterthought, "Oh, and Carly is already there gathering the story from the Superman angle, so try to scoop them on that."

Freddie huffed out a breath, clearly annoyed with his boss's demands and complaints, especially making a remark about the 'Bat Freak' when he knew the truth about her. Add that to the unnecessary stress of Carly arriving in the city to report on Superman as per usual. He had his hands full already without the need of Carly's bullheadedness. She could literally get herself in the middle of a Mob firefight and he would have to rush to save her.

"Actually Chief, I'm investigating right now. I'm about to talk to the prime suspect of Mister Shapiro's kidnapping. I'm hoping to trip this Lee woman up and see if I can find anything that will incriminate her or her partners." He tightened his smile as added, "And, yes… I'll leave the 'Bat Freak' story alone. For now."

Jade raised her once pierced eyebrow while her smile tightened, clearly not appreciating the remark about her alter-ego and asked, "He's chewing you out?"

The reporter covered the speaker with his hand and answered, "Yeah."

Jade opened her palm and motioned with her fingers that she would like to take the phone.

Freddie handed the phone over to the millionaire and she grinned as if she was licked by a puppy.

The philanthropist brought the phone to her ear then immediately pulled it back with the amount of shouting happening on the other end of the line. Once the shouting died down, she brought the phone back and sweetly answered, "Hello, Howard? This is Jade West, how are you doing?"

Her wicked smile appeared on her face as she heard immediate silence over the phone for several seconds then a rapid and stuttering blubbering of kissing up to her.

Jade interrupted him before he could go overboard, "Listen Howard, I'm with Mister Benson right now. You may know that Robert Shapiro, the DA, is a dear friend of mine, so Mister Benson and I are doing our own investigation into what happened. We have a pretty solid lead on the kidnapping and I'll make sure your reporter here sends you something when we have something definitive. Okay?"

Howard stuttered on the other end of the phone before answering, nearly tripping over himself, "Yes, yes ma'am."

Jade's smile grew bigger as he apparently gave a deferred answer. "Good. It was nice talking to you Howard. Here's Freddie."

The reporter took his phone back, not bothering to hide the smirk off of his face. "Hello, Chief."

"So Miss West wants to tag along with you while investigating?"

"More like I'm tagging along with her lead. She's determined to make the people that tried to murder her friend pay."

Howard dismissively laughed at Freddie, always finding a bit of pleasure in any misfortune that fell upon the reporter, "You're used to that with Carly aren't you? Being led around by your nose?"

Freddie tightened a smile and calmly answered, looking at Jade as he talked about her, "No sir, just that she can be too headstrong for her own good and I have to follow behind her so nothing happens to her."

"I thought that was Superman's job."

The reporter answered with a bit of a smart remark, "He can't be there all the time."

Howard let it go and continued, "Okay, follow your lead. Even if it doesn't pan out, it can give us the perspective from the inside the other reporters can't get—maybe an interview with Shapiro if he pulls through, but don't do anything to embarrass the paper in front of her."

Freddie sighed then answered with a forced smile, "Sure thing, Chief."

The other end of the phone cut out with the chief hanging up on him. He pulled the phone away from his ear and looked down at the screen, slightly shaking his head.

Jade interrupted his thoughts, "I thought I straightened him out. Why are you sighing?"

Freddie slipped the phone into his pocket while he answered, "Because he's hoping that since I 'impressed' you that I could use that for an inside scoop to talk with Mister Shapiro."

Jade frowned and crossed her arms under her chest. She replied with a stern voice, "He's not talking to anyone he doesn't want to speak with—even if he was able to speak right now."

The reporter partially rolled his eyes and answered with bitter sarcasm in his voice, "Did you think I would really try for that? That I couldn't save him, but I would get an exclusive from him?"

The millionaire was taken aback for a moment from the self-loathing dripping off his voice then bowed her head and regretfully remarked, "Who we couldn't save. It wasn't all on you. Tori's right about that, at least… you can't do that to yourself."

Freddie was at a loss for words, not eager to go in circles with her about who was to blame. He decided to focus back at the task at hand, "Let's just go talk to Mrs. Lee."

Jade forced an awkward smile and agreed, "Yeah."

The investigative partners set aside their mutual self-admonishing and headed towards the front entrance, quietly throwing together a plan on how to question Mrs. Lee.

Nozu Restaurant

Freddie opened the door to allow Jade to enter first, giving him a polite nod and smile as she strolled past. He followed behind and the two were greeted with the sight of a semi-busy restaurant in the mid-afternoon.

They were immediately approached by the same young man that had greeted Detective Vega and Mitchell. He politely greeted them, "Good afternoon. May I seat you at a table or a booth?"

Jade ignored him for a moment to glance around the restaurant, only needing a second to spot the mob boss sitting at a corner table looking quite irritable sipping a glass of wine. She assumed that the pressure was on for the suspected mob leader because the vast majority of the time, she put on a pleasant front to keep those around her at ease and happy, just until she could squeeze something out of them. She hoped the woman would at least bother to speak with her since they did have a history.

During her high school years, Mrs. Lee financed one of Jade's plays—Jade easily had the money of course—but the restaurant owner wanted an opportunity for her daughter to perform and out of an unexpected knot of compassion, Jade had agreed to allow her daughter into her play.

Unfortunately, she wanted her hands in the project, strong arming rewrites to show off her daughter more and more, and in everyone's opinion, she turned the story into a piece of chizz and a potential embarrassment for all those involved. Jade remembered how frustrated she was when Sinjin was so afraid of the woman that he couldn't even ask her a question about set design, and to the sick amusement of most everyone around, he wet his pants rather than take a break on her watch. The millionaire hoped she had made it, and a number of other things up to him since the incident. After all, she had given him a cushy job in her company since he was a pretty smart despite being more than a little odd.

In order to prevent a lousy review of her production, the first showing involved Tori getting the daughter out of the way for the show, but led to Mrs. Lee being a little bitter towards the brunette actress. She blamed her for her daughter being left to hang in the air while the play was performed in its original rendition, miraculously convinced for some reason that Jade was completely innocent in the matter.

Jade put on a sweet smile and answered, "Actually, I'd like to see my old acquaintance Mrs. Lee. I'm Jade West… of West Enterprises."

The gentleman took a moment to recognize one of the leading citizens of Gotham then politely smiled and answered, "Of course… Miss West, one moment please." He turned and cut through the dining floor to head for her boss. He walked up beside her and dipped down to whisper Jade's arrival.

Mrs. Lee looked to the end of the restaurant and spotted the millionaire. She took a moment to recognize her and waved her over.

Jade led Freddie to the restaurant owner and passed a polite smile to the heavyset bodyguard to Mrs. Lee's left when they arrived at her table. She continued her warm disposition with her greeting to the suspected mob boss, "Hello, Mrs. Lee."

Mrs. Lee took a moment to recognize the millionaire then smiled to her, commenting with a sweet voice, "Hello Miss West. How are you?"

"I'm… not the best at the moment. My friend was kidnapped and nearly murdered."

The restaurant owner tightened her smile, Jade's words hitting a nerve. "Yes, I heard. I'm so sorry about your friend. I certainly hope he… recovers."

Jade gave a smile back, a tight one where her eyes didn't convey that she accepted the well wishes. However, this was a game of poker, a game that she had learned well with her friends in high school, though the stakes had grown tremendously. She pleasantly answered, "I'm sure he will. He's in the best hands."

Lee's smile tightened and it seemed that she was about to choke on her own words, "I'm delighted to hear."

A tense pause came between them for several seconds before Mrs. Lee continued in a pleasant tone, "So, what brings you by my little establishment? A lunch date with this handsome young fellow? Are you finally tiring of the bachelorette scene?"

Jade felt the heat of blush form under her cheeks, nearly startled by the question. She quickly recovered and let out a carefree laugh, one so convincing that Freddie had trouble telling if it was real, "No, we're not having a lunch date, though…" She glanced to Freddie and politely laughed, "…we should work one in before he has to go back to Metropolis."

The dark haired young woman continued, "This is Freddie Benson. He's a reporter for the Daily Planet. He's supposed to be doing some piece on me for the paper. I think the Editor over there wants to kiss up to me so he keeps his job, but Mister Benson here is helping me investigate what happened to my friend. I wanted to talk to you about what happened to Robbie… how it was your truck… that a number of your employees stole for his kidnapping."

Mrs. Lee took a deep breath, resisting the urge to mouth off at the girl and put her in her place. She was still one of the wealthiest and influential citizens of the city and it wouldn't do her well to offend her and her death would be too public. "I was expecting the police to show up to question me, not have you bothering me about this mess… which I know nothing about."

Jade cocked an eyebrow and questioned, "So they haven't questioned you?"

"I was out when the police stopped by, so I haven't spoken with them and…" She looked to Freddie and her voice seeped with a little venom, "I'm not giving interviews to the press. I wouldn't want to do anything to hamper the police's investigation into what happened."

Freddie put on a charming, usually disarming smile that had helped him on a number of occasions to convince reluctant people to spill what they knew. "That's too bad ma'am since it looks like you're the one desperate for good press… and you could let the people of Gotham know that you're really just a victim of the same people that kidnapped Mister Shapiro."

"Me?" Lee looked dumbfounded by the statement and asked out of curiosity, "I'm… a victim?"

"Yes, perhaps the same someone is setting you up that is attempting to frame Mason Thornesmith with fake documents about illegal businesses."

Mrs. Lee sat up in her seat and took a slow breath, being reminded of what pushed her into eliminating Robbie in the first place. She knew it had to be that damn 'Bat' person that raided Mason's apartment in the first place that started this snowball of a mess. She desperately wanted to clip that flying rat's wings and hopefully after Quincy eliminated Beck, they could turn their full attention to doing the same to her. She sat aside those wishes and calmly asked, "But what reason would someone have to conspire to do all these things?"

Freddie appeared to be thinking for a few moments then smiled, believing he had it and answered, "Well, after the framing attempt against Mister Thornesmith failed, he or she thought about moving onto framing you and putting greater pressure on public officials to do his dirty work. If something happened to the D.A., the police, the mayor, and city council would have to come down hard on the person responsible… which would be you… or at least it looks like it was you since it was one of your catering trucks that were used in the transport of Mister Shapiro and the kidnappers that were killed are more than likely your employees. This individual clearly is making it look like, at least to the people and the police, that you could have a hand in what happened to Mister Shapiro."

Mrs. Lee's surprised expression switched to a defensive and outrageous one, seeing the opening that the reporter in her mind foolishly gave her, "My restaurant does a lot of catering, so I have a number of supplementary employees to handle that workload. I don't know them as I do my employees that have been with me since Wok Star, so some of them may have mob connections. They're the ones that must have stolen one of my catering trucks. I know the Mob of Gotham is real even if others like to pretend it doesn't exist."

Jade jumped back into the conversation with a forced pleasantness, "So instead of threatening you with a shakedown, could they have instead been embezzling from you? It would be quieter and if they were ever caught, they could blame you… just like they're doing now with Robbie's kidnapping. Perhaps it is a mob conspiracy?"

Mrs. Lee thought on the young reporter and Jade's suggestion then nodded with a bright smile, thinking they were idiots giving her a perfect way to scapegoat others.

The secret dark vigilante continued, "So if it was members of the mob that infiltrated your business that stole the truck, I assume you didn't have any orders to fill today or it would have been noticed that a vehicle wasn't where it was supposed to be. Who would know for sure?"

Lee thought for a moment then answered, "I would know. I personally go over any catering details since it draws so much business, especially in the Asian community."

"So you were here all day?"

"Yes, other than a meeting I had an hour or so ago. I'm here every day, seven days a week."

Jade smiled, getting some independent confirmation that Lee was here during Robbie's kidnapping. Her illegal wiretapping wouldn't be admissible in court when finding out that they were taking him back to the restaurant, but a legal phone dump by the police to the restaurant was another matter. They had a little bit more circumstantial evidence that she perhaps took the call. She pushed to get a bit more information, "I assume the catering people just can't come in here and take a truck."

"No."

The pale young woman continued, "So they had to have an inside man that regularly works for you. We get to him and maybe he can lead us to who is behind the kidnapping. Who was working this morning?"

Mrs. Lee's brow rose as she realized there was an obvious link to her in the kidnapping that wasn't obviously dead. She had loyal people, far more loyal than those that worked for Mason and Quincy and would die for her before talking, but… why take the chance? She had to think quickly to eliminate that threat before the bratty orphaned millionaire and her noisy reporter could make something of it.

She stalled for a moment to think, "I'll have to look at the schedule and see who was working this morning in catering and delivery…" She looked to the attendee that met the pair at the entrance and instructed, "Please get the schedule for today."

"Yes ma'am."

As the young man walked away, the mob boss realized how she could get rid of her problem while still looking innocent. She looked to Kwakoo and instructed, "Go with him and once you find out who it was, go to his home and… keep him busy until the police arrive."

"Yes ma'am," he answered the hastily caught up with the attendee.

Jade's eyes darted to the retreating figures then asked, "Mrs. Lee?"

"If he knows who did this to Robbie, we can't spook him. The police would just show up and something could happen—a shootout or he could escape. If he sees Kwakoo show up, he won't run or suspect a thing then when the police show up, Kwakoo would make sure he won't do something to get him killed or run away."

Jade seethed for a moment, believing that she was seeing their way to connect Mrs. Lee to Robbie's kidnapping but it would slip right through their fingers. However, she had to remain outwardly cool and calm, so she carried on her act as remaining on Lee's side. "It sounds like a good plan. We can finally get to the bottom of this and get justice for everyone."

"Yes we can… would you like to stay for the lunch though? We can wait to hear news about the police picking him up."

The investigators turned looked to each other, sharing awkward smiles then Jade nervously chuckled, "As good as that sounds, we better be going. We need to check to see if there's any change in Robbie's condition."

"Of course, I understand. When you see him, let him know that I'm thinking about him. Kwakoo may not be showing it, but he's worried sick about him. He's still a fan of his from his hamboning days."

"I will. Have a nice afternoon Mrs. Lee."

Jade turned and Freddie faithfully followed her towards the exit.

Mrs. Lee smiled, feeling far better about the situation than when the two fools—and that's how she saw them—had arrived. She was going to have a relaxing evening, confident that all connections to Robbie's botched kidnapping would be severed and that Quincy would rid them of Beck before the night was out.

As soon as they exited the restaurant, Freddie briskly asked, "So, what's the plan?"

"Plan?"

"For getting us out of there instead of waiting around with her to find out if the police can actually talk to him."

"We're going to follow Kwakoo to whoever was working this morning and get to him first before they can kill him," she answered as they reached her car.

Freddie walked around to the other side of the car and commented over the roof of the car, "Assuming he actually goes and Lee's making a phone call to send someone else to kill him."

Jade opened her driver's side door and regretfully answered, "It's a chance we'll have to take."

The pair slipped into her car, getting their seatbelts on then Jade pulled the vehicle out of the parking spot and drove them around the restaurant. She drove a few yards down the road and pulled into a street parking spot that allowed them to spot any vehicles that would exit the rear entrance parking.

A small smile tugged on Jade's lips as she remembered Robbie's competition for the title of 'Hambone King', failing miserably at it in a painful manner then Tori following up with claiming the title of 'Hambone Queen'. Her thoughts drifting to Robbie tugged on her heart, but she couldn't afford to be distracted. In order to clear her head, she lazily questioned Freddie, "Do you think you can sweet talk whoever this guy is to testify against her?"

"They may not talk to me, but they may speak to… me," Freddie smirked as he finished and took off his glasses.

Jade cocked an eyebrow and questioned with a soft laugh, "You think you can be intimidating enough?"

Freddie glanced down and pulled out a handkerchief from his blazer pocket and wiped off his glasses. "Well, I'm not a dark bat that can haunt a person's nightmare, but… I can be persuasive in my own way and if I can't… I do have the big bad Bat on my side."

Jade cocked an incredulous eyebrow and snickered, "You want us to team up as the Bat and Superman?"

The reporter slipped his glasses back onto his face and answered, "What? We're already teaming up right now and if Kwakoo needs to be stopped, we can't exactly do it in this attire, so…"

The millionaire thought about it for a moment then pointed out, "You know I have a different method to my crime fighting. It may not be as compatible as yours…"

"Maybe, but… I trust the woman behind the mask."

She remembered the last time someone said that years ago. She smiled and teasingly pointed out, "Yeah, yeah, big mistake."

Freddie held a confident smile and sweetly countered, "No, I don't think so."

Jade returned with bashful smile to his challenge, then glanced away just in time to see a vehicle exit the back parking lot. She shifted in her seat and put the vehicle into drive as she muttered, "Okay, looks like the show's about to start."

The vigilante pulled the vehicle into traffic and began following the inconspicuous vehicle.

Robbie Shapiro's Private Room

Intensive Care Unit

Gotham Community General

Gotham, NJ

Tori was sitting by Robbie's side watching the hanging television set for the news, hoping for any news that the police would be able to link Mrs. Lee to Robbie's kidnapping. She knew her father was a good man, but she didn't have much faith in the police department with them being in the back pocket of the Mob.

However, instead of the press trying to find out the truth behind who was behind Robbie's kidnapping, they were going on and on about the Joker, 'The Bat' and Superman's 'so called' rescue. If they weren't speculating to their heart's content about what it meant that the Clown Prince of Crime that had been smashing the Mob's gambling halls and speakeasies attempted to save the D.A, they were focusing on the fact that the repeatedly denied existence by the police of a dark vigilante that had been terrifying criminals at night actually existed.

In the studios where they had any number of commentators, they talked about the Joker and his blonde companion, they were trying to glorify him as they did all the Midwest bank robbers as they did the late Bonnie and Clyde—ignoring the fact that the couple had murdered more than half a dozen police officers—or perhaps trying to turn him into some folk hero like the late John Dillinger. They had some quick video of them from bystanders' phones that fed into the notion of the criminal couple. Tori couldn't definitively make them out from the quality and angle of the footage, but she knew in her gut that they were Beck and Sam. She just didn't know how to feel about it at the moment as they were clearly criminals, yet they were her friends and they were trying to save Robbie.

When they were speaking about 'The Bat', some starting to label her 'Batwoman'—a confirmation by the witnesses to the crash and shootout that the vigilante was a woman—they were incredulous about how a woman could terrify the street soldiers of the criminal underworld. The speculation was flying on her possible identity and how she had her hands on what was an advance armored vehicle, ranging from her being a heavily funded mob enforcer that had been targeting rival mob soldiers to eliminating the competition to some even suggesting that she was actually a member of a covert police task force operating outside of the law to combat crime.

Tori couldn't help but feel a bit of pride that the mysterious woman was making a difference and was thankful for her hand in rescuing Robbie. She just hoped that one day she would be able to thank her.

A soft groan from her left pulled the brunette actress's eyes away from the television. She looked to Robbie and let out a relief laugh as she saw Robbie begin to stir. She stood up and looked over him, slipping her hand into his right hand to assure him that someone was there for him.

Robbie blinked open his uncovered eye and frantically looked around, trying to get his bearings. He mumbled, part of his jaw felt numb but was able to get out his question, "What happened? Where am I?"

Tori assured him, "You're in the hospital, but… you're alright. You were kidnapped, but you were rescued. The doctors and nurses are taking good care of you."

The curly haired lawyer was able to focus on Tori smiling down on him, recognizing his high school friend. He closed his eye and tried to process what she said, but he felt groggy and a bit numb in some places. His memories started returning about the last few hours, being snatched up on his way to the courthouse then tied up in what he suspected was some abandoned warehouse for hours with a blindfold over his eyes then being moved into a van to Mrs. Lee if he had heard them correctly. The last thing he remembered was a chase and the sound of gun fire then a complete blank.

Robbie took several deep breaths then looked around again with his uncovered eye. His vision was a little blurry without his glasses, but he could make out that Tori was the only one in the room. He had enough conscious thought to figure if he was in the hospital after a kidnapping, he's friends would be there to support him.

He tried to speak, but it came out as a mumble because his mouth felt like it was stuffed with cotton. He took a breath then tried again, "Where is everyone? Where's Cat?"

Tori brushed the right side of his head to brush some of his hair out of his face and reassure him, "Cat's in her botany lab trying to find anything that can help you, André has all of West Enterprises working on anything that could help you and Jade's investigating with Mister Benson to nail who did this to you."

"Help me?"

"Yeah…"

Robbie took several deep breaths, attempting to fully wake up even as he felt his left arm had fallen asleep in laying wrong in bed. "Help me? Wait, why do I feel all numb on one-side?"

The actress swallowed, unsure how to break the news to him. She really wish Cat or Jade was here, maybe André to tell him what happened.

Robbie wasn't going to wait for an answer and pulled himself up and out of bed, struggling to push Tori aside.

Tori desperately implored with her friend, "Robbie, you need to remain lying down." She looked over her shoulder and shouted, "Doctor! Nurse!"

In a surprising show of strength, he pushed Tori away and got out of bed, pulling out the I-V from his left hand, not really feeling the needle being pulled out. He walked to the bathroom and flipped on the light. He stopped in front of the mirror to see that half his face was covered with bandages along with his left arm.

He pulled the bandage off the side of his face, wanting to determine how badly he had been hurt. As the bandage fell away, his eyes bulged out as he saw that the left side of his face was charred, could see the outline of his face muscles, his left ear practically gone and most of his hair on the left side had been burned away. His mouth gapped open, trying to form words at seeing his injuries.

Tori rushed to the bathroom door, covering her mouth as she saw the injuries reflected in the mirror. She thought she was going to throw up.

As Robbie looked on his injuries in morbid fascination, something clicked in the back of his mind and his voice whispered out in a gently mocking urban voice that he hadn't heard in years, "Damn Robbie, we look horrible."

Tori was given a reprieve on being sick when she heard the voice she hadn't heard since high school.

Robbie turned to face Tori and managed a partial smile as he greeted the actress, "Hey, sweet cheeks."

Jade had done her best to conspicuously follow the car from Nozu in such a visible high performance sports car. She had to get them ditch following them several times, but having Freddie as her second set of eyes that could see through things made things quite helpful.

The car from Nozu pulled in front of the apartment building and Jade pulled her vehicle to a stop on the other side of the street several vehicles down. They watched as a large heavyset fellow stepped out of the car and Jade could recognize as Kwakoo.

Freddie asked, "Should we follow him up or wait for them to come back down to follow them?"

"He might be the only one that comes down and…" She regretfully shrugged a shoulder and remarked, "I'd prefer not to have another car chase in one day…"

Freddie sympathetically nodded and answered, "Right…"

He turned his head and looked through the building and pointed out, "There's a large enough alley behind the building. We can park there without anyone seeing us."

"Okay," she muttered before looking in her side mirror then pulled back into traffic and around to head behind the building.

After going down a block and doing a U-turn down a back alley between the apartment building and a smaller building, Jade pulled the vehicle to a stop. She looked down and started unbuttoning her shirt, revealing her light skin and cleavage.

Freddie quickly turned his head away and uttered, "Ah Jade?"

"What? I have to change and you have X-ray vision. It's not like you couldn't see everything if you wanted to—by 'accident'."

Freddie sighed and rolled his eyes, "You're not going to let that go are you?"

Jade was threw a teasing smile as she pulled her shirt from out of her skirt and finished undoing the last buttons. "Only when it no longer gets to you."

Freddie smiled perhaps in a sarcastic manner before he opened the car door and answered, "I'll meet you outside." He shut the car door just as the millionaire winked at him and turned and pulled out a panel between the seats.

The reporter glanced around the surrounding area and he shed his clothes, seeing if anyone could spot them from looking out a window. Fortunately, the vast majority of the surrounding building occupants were out presumably at work with the occasional person in their apartment and with the sun on west side of the neighboring building to cast the alley in a shadow.

About two minutes later, the driver's side door opened and the Bat stepped out. She adjusted her cowl and cape then shut the door.

The costumed crime fighters met each other's eyes, seeing the other's alter-ego. Something intangible shifted between them and it each left the other in an uncertain position. They knew how to interact with each other as Freddie and Jade, but as Superman and The Bat… that was a different story.

The Bat motioned her head to the building and stated in a low, almost gravel filled voice that had the tell-tale signs of electronic voice modulation, "Can you see where Kwakoo is in the building?"

Superman tossed his folded clothes into the passenger seat then glanced up the building and spotted the bodyguard being allowed entry into an apartment to the backside of the building. He quickly counted the floors and pointed to a window seven stories up and two windows from the center. "Yes, he's just arrived in an apartment there."

"Good, it's on this side of the building."

Superman asked with a boyish grin, "Need a lift or do you want to take the fire escapes?"

The Bat half smirked and bit back a sarcastic remark—one free of venom if she spoke it—and answered, "No thank you. I have my own way." She pulled her claw launcher from the back of her belt then pointed it to the ledge. She slightly groaned and switched the hand launcher to her left hand. She could feel the muscular hero from Metropolis giving her as scrutinizing gaze.

She let out with a small groan, "Don't say a word. Go around to the front of the apartment and make sure Kwakoo can't escape."

Superman remained quiet to his concern, but still directed a penetrating and worrying look to her, which was nearly unnerving for the dark dressed figure. He decided to take her lead and answered, "Right."

Superman lifted his right hand and soared to the roof.

"Okay, taking the roundabout way," she uttered as she squeezed the trigger and the claw shot out towards the ledge.

Inside the apartment and about a minute or so before the costumed heroes set about reaching his apartment, Cheng was relaxing and watching television after a long morning and mid-afternoon shift. He was watching the ongoing news about the district attorney's kidnapping, rescue by the dark vigilante and the crazy clown mobster and the obvious involvement of Nozu with her catering truck and her employees being the kidnappers. He wondered if the cops would be able to make a link between the kidnappers and Mrs. Lee. He had known the guys killed for years and would miss them. He hoped he would be there when they got that damn clown and the pointed ear freak.

A knock at his door interrupted his relaxation. He glanced at the door, not expecting any visitors and got up to head for the door. He looked through the peephole then didn't hesitate to open the door with a welcoming greeting, "Hey Kwakoo, what's with the surprise?"

The heavyset bodyguard genuinely smiled and greeted him, "Hey Cheng. The boss wanted me to pick you up." His voice and head dipped as he uttered regretfully, "We're going to have a little memorial service for the guys this evening and celebrate their lives. We're going to open the kitchen and go all out with the food… but we're going to need everyone's help to make it so we can enjoy."

Cheng may not have liked having to basically work another partial, but it was to celebrate his friends and it was them that were going to be eating. "Okay, just let me turn my TV off and grab my wallet…"

"Going with him wouldn't be such a good idea," the gravel voice called out behind him.

Cheng turned and Kwakoo looked over the shorter man's shoulder to see the Bat squatting on the window seal with her cape covering her form.

The apartment tenant took a step back to bump into Kwakoo's chest, but the bodyguard gently pushed him aside and drew a revolver in a smooth motion. He raised it towards the Bat while the vigilante raised her right hand from out of her draped cape and pulled out what looked like a boomerang, but the instead of a solid bent piece, it was shaped like the wings of a bat joined at the center by a circular disk.

Before Kwakoo could fire or the Bat throwing her batarang, a strong hand gripped his right wrist and squeezed, forcing the man to lower his arm. He looked over his shoulder with an outrageous expression to meet Superman's eyes.

"Now, now, it's not nice to point guns at good people."

Superman grabbed the barrel of the gun with his other hand and pulled the weapon out of his hand, making sure if the weapon went off, the bullet would flatten on his palm. He let go of Lee's head bodyguard and slightly pushed him away.

The large man stumbled backwards and grabbed his wrist, rubbing it to get some feeling back into it. He looked at the caped man with a mix of fear and disgust as he opened the cylinder and let the bullets fall out.

Cheng darted his eyes back and forth between the starkly different dressed vigilantes and demanded, "What are you doing here?"

Superman answered with a grin as he tossed he empty weapon onto the floor, "For your safety."

"My safety?"

"Yes, we believe Mrs. Lee doesn't have your best interest at heart, in fact, we think she sent this gentleman to do… some not so pleasant things to you."

"What?"

The Bat answered with a low growl that showed her impatience, "Kill you. He was planning to kill you and take the fall for the D.A.'s kidnapping since you have access to the catering trucks, the vehicle that was transporting Mister Shapiro."

Cheng looked on in disbelief, trying to mentally catch up with their accusation.

Kwakoo remained silent, throwing a death glare at the Bat.

Superman calmly added, "We're here to make sure nothing happens to you."

Cheng's wits returned and dismissed, "Are you crazy? Kwakoo wouldn't hurt me… and I don't know anything. I'm just some assistant manager."

The dark dressed figure snidely remarked, "Makes you the easy scapegoat." She looked to Kwakoo and snidely asked, "What were you going to do, make it look like a suicide? He kills himself to avoid prison? Do you go through the trouble of writing a confession for him in a suicide note?"

The young employee looked to Kwakoo, trying to determine if the usually childlike and bashful man had the intention of harming him.

The former cook nervously laughed, not wanting to acknowledge the Bat having deduced his plan to a 'T', "They're nuts, Cheng. I'm just here to pick you up for a party we're having."

Superman gave a friendly smile and asked, "Then you wouldn't have a problem with us asking him a few questions?"

"Yes I do. You're just some vigilante freaks, especially that black devil. I don't know what you'll do to him."

Superman stared down the bodyguard and pointed out the obvious, "If you haven't read a paper, we're the good guys and we're trying to find the bad guy. In this case, it just might be your boss."

"Mrs. Lee had nothing to do with what happened to Robbie."

"Then you really don't have a problem with him talking to us?"

"Or you'll just trick or make him tell you anything you want to hear, just like the cops."

Superman responded with a charming smile, "We want the guilty to pay, not the innocent. Making him say something that isn't true doesn't help us, so go back to Mrs. Lee and tell her that he's under our protection and nothing better happen to him."

Kwakoo didn't like being told to be an errand boy for the strange visitor, but he thought better than to take a swing on someone that had supposedly easily lifted a car above his head as an answer to him. He decided that getting back to Mrs. Lee to tell her what happened was better than some useless gesture against him.

He slowly walked backwards then dashed out of the apartment.

Superman smiled and shut the door behind him.

Cheng darted his eyes back and forth between the terror of the night and the guardian of Metropolis, shocked that Kwakoo would just leave him with them. He swallowed and took several calming breaths then questioned with a bit of a sarcastic voice, "So what do you want from me… not that you saved my life…"

Superman asked with a friendly smile, "We want some information."

"About what?"

The Bat whispered in tense voice, "Who signed the catering truck out? Who authorized it?"

Cheng hesitated even with the innocent question, but his loyalty to his crew and Mrs. Lee being a defining trait of his life.

The blue eyed muscular supportively smiled and gave him some friendly advice, "You should answer her questions. She doesn't look like she's afraid to hurt you."

The light of the room made the dark costumed young woman slightly less scary, but he could see her eyes and felt a shiver of fear through them.

The young assistant manager swallowed down a hint of fear and answered, "I sighed out the truck this morning. They said they had a few delivers this morning."

Bat stepped down the windowsill and slowly stalked towards. "Mrs. Lee said there wasn't any catering today."

"There weren't. They were just making deliveries."

"This morning? When did Nozu start serving breakfast?"

Cheng opened his mouth to answer, but paused when the thought hadn't occurred to him that something was up with wanting the van so early in the morning. "We usually don't leave out until about ten thirty, eleven in the morning for lunch delivers."

Superman added his question, "And that didn't raise any suspicions?"

"Why would it? I've known these guys for years."

The Bat followed up, "So you've worked for Mrs. Lee since Wok Star?"

"Yeah, we all have, except for like two of the new guys."

Bat nodded her head then asked, "So, if you manage the catering, you must take their calls, right?"

"I usually do."

"What did they call you about while they were out?"

"I didn't take any calls."

"You didn't? Then who took the calls?"

Cheng lazily shrugged a shoulder and answered, "Anyone could have taken the calls in the office."

Superman asked the obvious question, "Who was working in the office this morning?"

"The manager… but he was out this morning, so only Mrs. Lee was working in the office as always."

Superman followed up, "Are you willing to testify to that?"

"Why would I have to testify to such a thing?"

Bat crossed the distance in a blink and grabbed him by the collar. She hissed out, "Look, I don't know if you're one of her mob soldiers or not, but Kwakoo was about to kill you, probably making it look like a suicide so all of Shapiro's kidnappers were dead and couldn't definitively be linked to her. You're on her list to keep quiet, so you might as tell the truth about what you know."

Cheng nervously swallowed, but was able to utter, "He wasn't going to do any such thing. I wouldn't betray my Mistress."

Bat jerked to her left and pushed him by the collar a few steps towards the open window.

Superman took a step forward, concerned with how far she would go with her 'interrogation'.

The dark dressed woman leaned forward and partially hung him out the window as she fiercely countered, "Your 'Mistress' wants you dead and she obviously isn't going to take a chance that you could talk, but you're going to talk. You don't have anything to lose."

The young mob associate swallowed then fearfully answered, "I have my honor."

"To a woman that has none?"

"Yes."

Bat leaned just a little more forward and lowered her voice, "Is it worth your life? It's obviously not worth anything to her."

The assistant manager kept his fear down and trying to ignore the breeze across his back, studying the woman's eyes to see if she would drop him out the window. He licked his lips and answered, "Yes."

"Maybe it is, but it's not worth Mister Shapiro's life."

Superman quietly asked, "Bat?"

Bat ignored him as she wanted to scare the young man and it looked like he was succeeding at it, but he wasn't going to talk. "It's easy to say you're willing to die for someone, but can you hold on to that conviction when you're actually facing death?"

She let go of his collar with her left hand and grabbed the window frame for support then leaned forward just a bit more with a firm grip on his collar.

Cheng was hanging halfway out the window by this point, flaying in trying to grip something other than the hand at his throat and instead of falling. He looked over his shoulder down to the ground below and hit with a wave of vertigo.

Superman walked closer and ready to grab the young man's foot incase he really did slip.

The dark dressed woman growled, "So you would rather I let go and you become a dead broken heap on the ground than to tell the police that it was Mrs. Lee that took the calls from them?"

The young man was near the point of hyperventilating as he stared down at the ground below. He weighed the possibility of dying from falling against the possibility that Mrs. Lee had sent Kwakoo to silence him and his own personal honor and loyalty to the woman. Time stopped for him in those brief seconds to reach a decision.

He looked back and met the Bat's eyes with a serine expression, "Then drop me. If I'm going to die, be it from your hands or one of my people, I'll die with my honor. If I survive by telling you what you want, I won't be remembered as a sniveling coward that betrayed his mistress."

The Bat was startled for a moment with him challenging her worldview on criminals… he was not among the cowardly lot.

Cheng huffed out a laugh, seeing that he had shifted the dynamic back in his favor, however that was a mistake.

The dark dressed vigilante snarled and jerked the young man away from the window and threw him onto the floor. He started crawling backwards, looking up at the menacing glare of the terror of the night.

"Fine, if you're not going to talk and do the right thing then you're going to explain to his fiancé why you think your damn honor is worth more than justice to them."

"I don't have to talk to any—FUCK!" Bat cut him off with a boot heel to his crotch. He rolled to his side and cupped his groin. He whimpered out a series of low curses in Mandarin.

The Bat roared, "You'll talk to whoever I damn well say you'll talk to!"

Superman took gently grabbed her by the upper arm, stopping her from attempting to hurt the downed individual.

Bat snapped an angry gaze at him, looking as if she was ready to strike him.

The red and blue costumed hero kept a steady gaze, not so much challenging her, but reminding her about a line they shouldn't cross.

Bat took several calming breaths, his blue eyes providing an anchor for her anger.

The 'Man of Tomorrow' let her go then reached down and grabbed Cheng by the collar by both hands to lift him up.

Cheng blinked through watering eyes and gut wrenching pain in his groin.

Superman whispered a bit of a chill in his voice, "Or maybe you'll die without honor?"

The young manager in pain groaned out, "What?"

"We'll just make you disappear for a while, make them think the police put you up in a safe house somewhere for your protection, and spread the word that you told us everything we wanted to hear—you witness Mrs. Lee taking calls from them and coordinating the kidnapping—and everyone will know, the entire community will know that you betrayed her. You'll always be remembered as the traitor."

The handsome hero chuckled, "I have a place I can drop you… how do you like the cold?"

Cheng shook his head and shouted, "You'll never get me to testify to that."

"I don't have to. Do you think they'll see a traitor like you make it to the witness stand? Do you think they'll take your word you haven't told us that? If we can't get them for Mister Shapiro, we'll get them for killing a witness—you—and that's the death penalty in this state."

Superman stuck at what he really feared that the Bat couldn't strike. He dropped him a heap on the floor and turned to walk to the window. He called out over his shoulder, "Think about that… think about the cost of you not doing the right thing while I get my place ready for you. Make sure you dress warmly. It's a bit chilly where I hang my cape."

Bat snapped her head back and forth between the downed possible mob associate still rolling in pain of the floor and her temporary partner in crime fighting. She caught up with him and whispered, "What are you doing? We're just going to leave him?"

"No, I got a plan. Follow me."

He climbed onto the windowsill then offered his hand to her.

She looked back hesitantly, unsure about what it meant for her independence to fly with him.

He asked in a charmingly boyish manner, "Come on, it'll be quicker."

She refused to smile while wearing the mask, but she did slip her hand into his palm and climb up to join him on the sill.

Superman smirked as he let go of her hand then slipped his arm around her back and held her close. He allowed them to fall from the sill then rose in the air towards the roof of the building.

Bat instinctively threw her arms over his chest and behind his shoulders to around his neck.

As the costumed heroes were having their conversation with Cheng, Kwakoo reached the car in a huff and almost tore the door off as he flung it open to slip inside.

The driver fearfully asked at seeing the panicked expression on Kwakoo's face, "Where's Cheng?"

"The Bat and Superman showed up."

The slimmer man's eyes nearly popped out of their sockets. "We got to call the boss."

"Yeah, and tell her it's time to get out of town!"

Superman reached the roof moments later and he released his protective hold on her.

The darker dressed vigilante turned a fierce gaze towards him and demanded, "Okay, why did you have us leave the one lead we had to getting Mrs. Lee?"

He returned with a charming smile and calmly answered, "I was thinking that we would watch him lead right back to Mrs. Lee. He'll go groveling to her telling of what we have planned for him and in the process she'll admit her involvement."

"That's a death sentence for him."

"Which he was more than willing to allow you to carry out as long at it keeps his honor intact. He cares about that more than his life."

The Bat crossed her arms over her chest and huffed out, annoyed that her tactic didn't work. She shook her head and paced away from him. She uttered with her back to him, "So we'll have to keep an eye on him…" She turned and looked him in the eyes. "But what good will it do us if he goes there? We can't listen in on…"

She trailed off as Superman smirked and tapped one of his ears.

Bat rolled her eyes and muttered, "Of course, but… you can hear them, but we need a recording. They can't exactly swear you into court."

"Do you have any toys that could bug the place and listen to them?"

She thought of a second then realized something simpler. "Wait, we don't have to go that far. We can just hack his phone and turn it on. We can record what he says to her from that."

Superman cupped his chin and thought out loud, "Yeah… I heard the NSA could do that."

Bat slightly cocked her head to the side.

He chuckled, "I am a reporter; I'm always concerned about them trying to violate freedom of the press."

"Right." She tapped the side of her cowl over her right ear and asked, "Erwin."

There was a delay in response, so an odd silence formed between the heroes. She awkwardly explained, "I didn't tell him I was going out in evening wear…"

A few seconds later, Sikowitz dutifully answered, "Yes Miss West."

"Are we still monitoring the phones at Nozu?"

"Of course."

"Good, listen out for any incoming call from someone wanting to see Mrs. Lee about what happened with Robbie. He should be scared and mention me and Superman."

"Yes ma'am."

"Also, I need you to get in touch with André. I need him to hack a phone so we can overhear anything it picks up. We're going to try to get a confession from Mrs. Lee."

"Of course, what's the man's name?"

Bat put on a dumbfounded expression for a moment then asked Superman, "Did we ever get his name?"

"I don't recall."

She nodded her head then asked, "Did you get the apartment number? We'll track him down that way."

"Yeah, Apartment Seven-Twelve."

"Erwin, the person lives in Apartment Seven-Twelve of the building on Crane Street."

Superman glanced down to his feet and turned about halfway to his left and called out, "His name is Cheng Lee… his cellphone serial number is Eight-Five-Four-Five-Nine-Five-One-Dash-One-Two-One-Seven-Five."

Bat knotted her brow and asked, "How do you know?"

He innocently answered with a near bashful manner, "I'm looking through the building to look at his wallet and phone."

She wanted palm her face, feeling a bit stupid for asking, but set that aside. "Did you get that Erin?"

"Yes, I'll send the information to André right away."

"Thank you."

She tapped her earpiece to turn off the transmission then remarked to Superman, "Let's just hope she runs her mouth. She's usually pretty calm and collective, so she might not slip up."

"Then what can make her not so calm and collective?"

"Hit one of her buttons—Robbie, Tori, celebrities that won't take a picture with her—and she's petty and vindictive and she doesn't watch what she says… do you have an idea?"

Superman thought for a few moments, thinking on something that might get the mob boss upset then it hit him from the conversation they had with Mrs. Lee. "I might and I think she gave the answer. Publicly there is no mob in Gotham, right? City council members, the Police Commissioner etcetera, right?"

"Right."

"Lee just admitted that she believe that it exists in her Gotham. How do you think the others would feel if that was printed?"

Bat cocked her head to the side and played it out in her head the ramifications of such a story. The mob boss in her desperation to keep her hands clean of Robbie's kidnapping broke the sacred rule of the mob: she acknowledged the existence of the mob and with her high profile, it was get a number of people's attention.

Superman continued to try to boost the young woman's hopes, "That might put some pressure on her to make a mistake and maybe openly admit her involvement when she talks to Cheng…" He trailed off hoping that was the only thing that would do to her instead of her fellow mob bosses killing her to keep her from betraying and embarrassing them. "It's wildly rumored that Luciano forced Capone to turn himself in after the Saint Valentine's Day Massacre."

Bat recalled the news then flippantly answered, "On a silly gun charge and a year at best."

"It doesn't matter what happened to him, just what kind of pressure can be put on her to let slip what happened."

The Bat couldn't help from grinning, breaking the intimidating expression and persona. "We might just get her."

"Yeah."

The two shared a smile, but before any other words could be exchanged, Sikowitz interrupted her on the commlink, "Miss West, I have some news on Robbie."

"You what?"

She patiently listened to Sikowitz as he caught her up on the developments with Robbie's condition. After the faithful butler finished, she demanded, "He's what?"

Superman turned and looked to Bat in mild concern.

Bat laughed, relief flooding her, "He's awake. Robbie's awake."

A second later, her face fell as she listened to the answer then she clarified, "What?"

She listened for a few more seconds, something Superman couldn't help but overhear with his hearing.

"Okay, okay, we'll be right there." She tapped her earpiece and looked to the red caped man. "We got to go."

Bat walked to the ledge of the table and jumped off of it then dove down.

Author's Note: I hope you liked this update. A lot things happened and things will just escalate from here. I'm going to avoid using the old '60s Batman joke about staying tuned, OneHorseShay.