Hello my dear readers! I have another exciting installment of the continuing adventure of the Dark Dame.

ArtisticAngel6: I've been holding Trina in reserve for a particular character that I hope one might have guessed, but should be made clear in this chapter.

Challenge King: It is going to be a challenge for Jade and Freddie to make something work, assuming they want something to work between them. General Shay in this case has is own agenda that is yet to fully be seen. Tori's one sneaky… cat.

Phycaryour319: Yes, know you have confirmation for Tori's lateness to the benefit banquet. How General Shay and Carly's agendas will interact will left to be seen, but yes, there is a twist to the whole Bat vs. Superman than say what will be in the theaters soon. Thanks for reading.

JadeElizabethOliver: Yes, yes they did kiss and we'll see what happens from there.

Fanfic-Reader-88: Tori's just that kind of person in wanting to give credit where credit is due and now that she's said it on television and she's a major movie star, the Bat just got famous nationwide, so the genie is out of the bottle and the GCPD can't do anything about it.

Freddie/Superman is the paragon of truth and justice, so he'll be by her side, but the emotional attachment just makes it more important to him. I don't remember any healing powers with Superman.

Tori's take on a certain character is a twist to say the least on the traditional interpretation, though if one really thinks about it, she may be drawn from another character in light of her father. Who Trina might be… I'll let the story tell that.

I'd like to thank IllusoryGentleman for beta reading this piece for me.

Rating: T Language, Violence

Chapter 16: Where do We go from Here?

GCPD Headquarters
Gotham City, NJ

The elevator opened to prisoner processing and the scene was strangely buzzing with activity during this late hour. Gary curiously looked out as he stepped out of the elevator with holding Quincy by his left bicep and a few escorting officers. He found it strange that the processing entrance was so heavily staffed, but didn't get a chance to ask as they were simply waved them through. He led the others to the front desk and stopped to speak with the desk sergeant, "What's all the commotion?"

The Sergeant tiredly smiled and answered, "Someone broke in and stole some of the evidence to the Vega kidnapping. We closed up the building from anyone leaving, but we haven't found anyone or the evidence."

The graying hair detective looked back with a dumbfounded expression. "What?"

"Yeah, they say whoever did it stole that Bat woman's weapon and the drugs recovered from the scene."

Gary couldn't believe what he was hearing and uttered just to confirm what the sergeant was telling him, "So the Bat got inside the station?"

The older, almost portly officer answered with a slight shake of his head, "Someone got inside the building, but yeah, it was probably the Bat."

"Shit…" the detective swore.

"Tell me about it. It's been nuts since it happened and then the Army showed up…" The Sergeant trailed off when he noticed Quincy's smirk. "What are you smiling about? You think that's funny?"

Gary eyed Quincy and muttered in disgust, "He's the one we've arrested for being the mastermind behind kidnapping David's kid. We need to get him booked and in an isolated holding cell."

The Sergeant easygoing expression with his fellow officer turned sour in an instant at seeing the one responsible for the kidnapping of a fellow officer's child. "Oh… we'll get him processed right away… find him a nice cell for the rest of the night."

Quincy sharply pointed out, "I'm innocent until proven guilty."

Gary pointed out with a sarcastic grin, "You're right, you are, but… when we have a good chunk of your crew arrested and saying you were not only in on it, but led it, it's kind of hard to think like that. I suggest that you behave and not antagonize anyone if you want to keep your teeth."

The businessman shut his mouth and allowed the detective to take him further into the police department for booking.

"Wait…" Gary asked the desk sergeant as they passed, "Did you say the Army?"

Commissioner Dickers' Office

GCPD Headquarters

Gotham City, NJ

Commissioner Dickers sat behind his desk while General Shay sat across from him and his secretary Lieutenant Vega stood at the door. Dickers looked particularly quite irritated, having to take a sip from his personal stash of alcohol. Shay wore a more pensive expression, hiding whatever irritation he felt at the situation far better than the commissioner.

The General quested with nearly a clipped tone, "So whoever stole your evidence got away?"

Dickers sat his glass down on the desk and answered, "Unfortunately, it appears so. We've searched the building from roof to the basement levels and we haven't found anyone. We've sent canine into the vents to see if someone is trying to hide in there, but they haven't found anything. We'll catch the Bat though, don't you worry."

"I'm not concerned about some lady deciding to dress up as a giant bat and beat up criminals in her spare time. I'm concerned that she's in possession of some rather… sensitive materials."

Dickers brushed a finger under his bottom lip, getting the confirmation that the drug really was as valuable as he believed. His original plans for the drug were perhaps out the window, but that didn't mean he still couldn't turn the situation to his advantage. "I take it that the drug we recovered was some classified project?"

General Shay took a deep breath and drummed his fingers on the end of the armrest. "I won't insult your intelligence by denying it, but you'll understand if I can't confirm it either."

"I understand sir. I'm a Marine—an aviator during the war—and retired from reserve duty about six year ago… twenty three years in the service."

Shay glanced over the commissioner's shoulder to notice several mementos from the man's service. He spotted a pair of aviator wings and silver oak leaves. He half smiled and nodded. "Out of this… debacle, the one shining point in all this is that the police department has you in charge, someone that understands the gravity of the situation without having to know all the details. If I had known your background, I might have not needed to waste my time with a court order… then again, you'd probably have needed it to legally release evidence."

"You're probably right sir. This Vega case is becoming a media circus and having evidence disappear—which it just has—is just going to make things worse. They're going to have a field day when they hear about this."

"Yes, I'm aware of the case. I saw her latest picture with my daughter on my last leave. Her mother used to read those Wizard of Oz books to her before her passing." He passed a glance over his shoulder to his assistant and commented with a smile. "I know Lieutenant Vega was a particular fan of the movie."

Dickers glanced to the woman standing by the door and questioned, "Vega?"

"No relation to the detective." The lovely tanned woman adjusted her small oval glasses on her face and embarrassingly uttered, "Coincidence with the name, sir."

Dickers wondered if it was a coincidence with the name as he was aware that Detective Vega's wife wasn't necessarily the most faithful of women, that perhaps he stepped out on his own marriage as well and he did noticed there was a resemblance between her and Tori.

General Shay picked up, "Anyway, my understanding is that only this vigilante's weapon and the drug went missing, neither of which should affect your case in charging the ones in the kidnapping. They already know about the 'Bat's' involvement with Miss Vega's statement, so you wouldn't have to volunteer such information to the public and about the drug, that can be spun as some new street drug and it turns out that it wasn't technically illegal in the first place, so no real loss."

The veteran police officer nodded his head then remarked, "That could work for the press, but how would you explain your presence?"

Shay grinned and casually answered, "We were here to support you against a South American guerilla force that joined with a local criminal in a kidnapping. It's a lucrative business for them down there and it looked like they wanted to expand their business. They are quite heavily armed and dangerous that could easily outmatch a police force, but it turned out you didn't need our help… the advantage of having a Marine being the commissioner."

Dickers smiled in appreciation of the compliment and answered, "Thank you and since we got their ringleader, it shouldn't be too hard to round up his followers if they stick their heads out, so hopefully we wouldn't need your help."

"Hopefully you wouldn't, but in the meantime, I guess it is a waiting game to recover our lost property."

"Unfortunately, it would appear so, but I will keep you posted."

General Shay stood up and replied, "I won't take up anymore of your time. Thank you Colonel. It's much appreciated."

Dickers stood up and politely nodded with a smile with the acknowledgement of respect by the General and returned it with a salute.

Shay snapped a salute in return then turned to head out the door that Lieutenant Vega kindly opened for him.

As the officers exited the office, Hamilton gave them a polite smile and walked past them inside. He shut the door behind him and Dickers instantly demanded, "Any news?"

The detective reluctantly shook his head and answered, "No. We've checked the building top to bottom and there's no one."

The Commissioner slammed his fist on the desktop and spat out, "We have to find her and the drug that mercenary was using."

"Yeah, it doesn't look good that she can just waltz right in here and take anything she wants. And she has the drug… I know we could have made a fortunate off that. We'd be rolling in the money from the athletes alone, then betting on them…"

"Easy money, but… it's not just that and the Bat. It could be a matter of national security. It looks like the Army was trying to make some kind of… super serum for soldiers from what it looked like the punishment that SOB could dish out and take. We may be out of a bit of bread, but I'm not going to have some nutty broad in a bat costume jeopardize my country."

Hamilton tightened a smile, mentally admonishing his boss for putting some misguided sense of patriotism over making some cold hard cash. "So you're saying even if we recover the drug, we're going to give it back to them?"

Dickers grinned and shrugged a shoulder. "Well… most of it anyway. It's not like they're going to know the difference if the guy stole it from them in the first place and has been using it for a while."

The detective cracked a smile, thankful that his boss hadn't lost his good criminal sense than he initially believed. "How are we going to get the Bat out to play? Other than bashing the random thug on the street at night, it seems she's only showing up when someone is in danger."

Dickers thought for a moment then a smile formed on his face. "I guess we're just going to have to put someone in 'danger'."

Hamilton cocked a surprised eyebrow, concerned what his boss had in mind.

As the General and Lieutenant walked to the elevator, Lieutenant Vega asked, "Do you think you can trust him sir?"

The General tilted his head slightly towards her and answered in a hushed tone, "I wouldn't have had you bug his office if I trusted him."

The lovely lieutenant tightly smiled and remarked, "He was career military that presumably retired with honor, so wouldn't that grant him a certain level of consideration?"

"I would like to think I could with his service, but he is the commissioner of police department bought and paid for by the mob and I can't take any chances, not with this. The last thing we need is this thing getting out to the general public or worst, a foreign government getting their hands on it. It's bad enough that SOB got his hands on it in the first place."

"So we need to find the Bat before they do?"

"Apparently so, but we're not exactly equipped to go tracking her down, assuming she'll pop her head up anytime soon. If she faced Gibson and squeaked by in not getting killed, I'm not going to imagine that she's in the best of shape. She could just hold up somewhere until they decide to stop actively looking for her."

"If?" she questioned at hearing him stress the word.

"The news is spewing out about what happened after Miss Vega's rescue about what really happened, including about Gibson's critical condition. She couldn't have done that to him if he was on the drug. He would have torn her apart."

"So if it wasn't her then who?"

"Who else is going around this city in a cape?"

Lt. Vega stopped and turned to look to her commanding officer. "The Superman?"

Shay stopped as well and answered, "Yes. Apparently Miss Vega admitted his presence after the 'Bat' did all the work and he showed up for 'cleanup'. It does press plausibility that one person could have handled that many armed men by themselves, but I don't believe she could have done such damage to Gibson."

"What if she's not human? What if she's really some creature of the night? A strix?"

General showed a perplexed expression, clearly not understanding the reference.

The army secretary further explained, "Creature of the night that sucks blood and eats human flesh?"

"A vampire?" He snorted out a laugh, "It would go with the bat theme. If they're real, it could explain her being able to take on that many men and win… perhaps even Gibson, but we're not talking about Dracula here."

The lieutenant grinned and pointed out, "There are plenty of creatures that you believe are mythical, but quite real."

He smiled to her in a fatherly way and answered, "I'll take your word for it."

The pair continued walking to the elevator and she asked to focus on a more productive line of thinking, "Why do you suppose she stole the steroid?"

"I don't know anything about the woman's psychology to hazard a guess at her motivations as to why she would take the law into her own hands, but… if we keep to the idea that the department is corrupt, perhaps she has the same concerns about it remaining in the police's hands as I do."

"So in light of that, rescuing their district attorney and Tori Vega and what she's been doing for the city, she would be an hērōs?"

The elevator doors opened and Shay motioned with a hand for her to step inside. The way she pronounced the word sounded very close to hero, but he couldn't necessarily make that jump in believing it was the equivalent word. "I'm sorry, I'm still brushing up on my Greek."

Lt. Vega knotted her brow as they stepped into the elevator, trying to find the equivalent word. She couldn't think of a translation despite the speed in which she had learned the English language, so she decided to give examples, "Someone like Achilles and Hector."

Shay tapped the button to the first floor as the names she spoke were obviously familiar to the General through culture and his readings. The elevator started lowering and he answered, "A hero? I suppose you could call her that. If it had been Carly that she had rescued, I'd certainly call her that, but I don't know her motivations and I don't know her. Trust is very hard to gain from someone in that position and the serum is too important to take leaps of faith."

"Where I'm from, we judge a person by their actions and from what I've seen so far, she looks like someone we can trust to do the right thing."

Shay raised a curious eyebrow and questioned, "Isn't that a jump for you? The heroes you described were vain and thought only of their own glory, assuming we have accurate records of their accounts."

"I would say a bit of both, but I haven't had a chance to read your classics to see the differences from the tales I've been told, but what I've heard of her exploits, I would be honor to fight alongside her."

The Army officer nodded his head to the side and replied, "I hope your faith in her is justified, so if we find her, she'll give it back to us without any trouble."

"I hope so too, but if not…" She swallowed then answered with a regret laced voice, "…then I'll take it from her."

He raised a challenging eyebrow. "And if the Superman interferes as it looks like they might be working together?"

Lt. Vega took a deep breath then reluctantly answered, "Then I'll get to test my mantle with a demigod."

The elevator doors opened as the General remained silent, worriedly wondering who would win that match.

GCPD Headquarters

Gotham City, NJ

Shawn Quincy sat in a segregated holding cell on one of the lower levels of the police station, a favor due to all he had done for the community since he was still innocent until proven guilty and his own safety from other prisoners, perhaps even some of the other officers. If they knew any better, they would realize that he was doing the other prisoners a favor being in an isolated area. He had earned his place at the top and whoa to anyone who thought differently.

"I never expected to see you in a cage Shawn," the familiar British voice remarked.

Quincy looked to his left to see Mason with his hands stuffed in the pockets of his overcoat standing on the other side of the barred door. He wore a smug look that the arrested mob boss would be more than happy to slug. However, he returned with a calm and collective answer with a smug look of his own, "Oh, it wouldn't be the first time and I won't be here for long."

Thornesmith raised an eyebrow and laughed, "I don't recall anytime you were arrested."

"I was good at not getting caught, but there were the Wilson Riots. I was in Los Angles at the time. They got… heated."

The former British officer thought for a moment then raised his eyebrows at recalling the event. "Oh yes… your President trying to institute segregation in the Federal government." He shook his head and mocked, "I'm not sure why you were so surprised of such a thing. I mean, what did your people expect supporting a Confederate sympathizer to office? You thought since he had been a Yankee for the last decade or so, he had wash away his history?"

Shawn turned a deep frown onto him and addressed his original point, "You're enjoying this too much."

Mason turned and stared between the bars with a disgusted look on his face. "I'm not enjoying it at all. We have one giant spotlight on us. Lee's dead and you compound it by having Vega kidnapped."

"I didn't have Vega kidnapped."

The standing mob boss snorted out a breath to the side and flippantly retorted, "Don't bother lying to me; no one is listening to us. You went after a police officer's child. They're going to want blood."

"They can't prove it was me. They already have their pound of flesh with Gibson."

"And a number of your people willing to testify against you. Did you forget about that?"

"I'm not buying what they're selling. My boys wouldn't sell me out… if they want to end up at the bottom of the West River."

"It doesn't matter. You might not make it to see a judge… They might decide to pull the 'shot while trying to escape' bit with you as they are taking you to your arraignment and it would tie up some loose ends pretty well."

Shawn's irritated expression turned to outrage ready to tear the jail cell off the hinges.

Mason deeply sighed and offered a way out, "But… we're going to make sure that doesn't happen. You'll make it there to see a judge in the morning for bail, which they'll deny you of course because it's just too high profile and you have the resources to flee the jurisdiction, but when they send you to county lockup after the hearing… I'll make sure they'll be a little 'accident' and you'll slip away. We'll smuggle you to Havana while we clean this mess up and dump it on someone else. You'll be back by autumn."

Shawn sarcastically asked, "And you're doing this out of the goodness of your heart?"

"Certainly not. You're the one that dug your own hole and I'd prefer that you'd rot in it, but we're in this together."

The imprisoned mob boss stood up from his seat and walked to the jail cell door and sarcastically asked, "So, you're afraid I'll sell you out to cut a better deal?"

"No… you have too much honor for that… and Lucky would end you for breaking the code."

Quincy took a deep breath and straightened his unbuttoned collar. He slowly let it out with a stern voice, "Okay, but I can go with that. I could use a vacation from all this mess, especially with Beck still out there wanting our blood."

Thornesmith answered with a disgust laced voice, "Yes, you just gave him plenty of further motivation with going after Tori. They've been friends since high school." He rolled his eyes and muttered, tapping his finger against the bars, "You might actually be safer in there than me out here. I still have a target on my back."

"I guess you should have paid your boy better and we wouldn't be in this mess."

Mason lazily stroked his chin then answered, "Beck's become an idealist, so I couldn't buy him off, but I'll deal with him in my way without drawing more attention to ourselves as you and Lee did to us. Wish I could rub it in the woman's face right now for what she's caused us, but I guess I'll have to settle for her in Hell."

"The woman's body is barely cold and you mock her like that?"

Mason tapped the bars on the door and retorted, "Your concern for her is touching, especially since you're the one in this cold cell because of her idiotic actions."

The businessman bit his tongue, unable to retort. He wouldn't be here if she hadn't bungled a simple kidnapping, though he didn't dwell on the fact that if he had left Tori alone, he wouldn't be here either.

"Well, it's getting so late it's almost early and I'd like to get a good night's sleep. You have a nice rest of the night Quincy, I'll see you tomorrow…" Mason mockingly bid him and headed out of the holding room.

Quincy watched him go, wearing a stoic expression to hid the fact that he wanted to just wipe that smirk off his face. He took a seat back on the bench then lay back, trying to get comfortable on the hard surface while contemplating his own plan to spin the situation into his favor.

Gotham General Hospital

Gotham City, NJ

Gibson stared at the ceiling, furious at his predicament. He was the greatest fighter of any nation below the equator, but here he was laid up with multiple broke bones including three of his limbs, multiple bruises and if not for his Venom, he would most likely be crippled. He had underestimated the hero from Metropolis, assuming some of his reported abilities were just yellow paper exaggerations.

However, the blue and red dressed vigilante lived up to what the papers had described him. He was the strongest person—strongest thing—he had ever encountered and completely physically outmatched. Surprise of his defeat had given way to anger and self-loathing at underestimating his opponent and being so ill prepared for him. He should have taken him into account as he had heard the flying man had recently made several appearances in the city.

He would not repeat that mistake when he faced the costumed hero again and he would face him again prepared to beat him and show that he was the greatest, he swore an oath to himself.

His vengeance would have to wait as his most pressing problem was that he was stuck in a hospital bed with a powerful sedative running through his system to dull the pain and help with the withdrawal from his steroid and outside his door were several police officers and FBI Agents guarding him. It would take him a considerable amount of time to heal without his drug, assuming his system could handle the long term withdraw of the drug, time he would have to spend in a prison hospital ward before he could even consider escaping.

As he was formulating a plan to escape his current predicament, the door opened, but he initially ignored the person, assuming it was just another annoying nurse or doctor checking on his condition. A few words of Spanish caught the arrested man's attention and he turned his head, smiling as he recognized one of his trusted lieutenants impersonating a doctor.

A few more words of Spanish were exchanged between them before the impersonator went to Gibson's IV and brought a needle and syringe to the place to administer medication and injected the drug into it.

Gibson took a deep breath as the steroid flowed along with the liquid into his vein. The dosage was not enough to significantly accelerate his healing, but it was enough to stabilize him and make him feel rejuvenated

The impersonating doctor looked over to the monitor keeping track of Gibson's vitals and tapped a few keys. The machine let out a long beep that signaled that he was going into cardiac arrest.

Gibson closed his eyes to play along as the 'doctor' shouted out that he needed help. Immediately a few orderlies came rushing into the room, all loyal members of Gibson's crew and began disconnecting him from the various equipment and the IV.

One of the officers began to question their actions, but the mercenary impersonating a doctor spoke out a ramble of medical sounding terms with the obvious meaning that they needed to get him to an operating room right that moment or he could die. The officer backed up and opened the door for them to wheel him out to the sound of chaos with the staff being alerted to the code blue.

The police detailed hastily got out of the way of the medical personal to do their jobs and let them roll him down the hall. The original officer that entered the room ordered a few to keep the area secure while the rest followed him to guard the comatose prisoner. He was the first to catch up with the rolling bed with the doctor straddling Gibson and 'performing' chest compressions on him to try to get his heart beating again just as the entourage made a sudden turn down the hallway to a larger service elevator that was open had two orderlies keeping it open instead of taking the prisoner/patient to the operating room.

The officer's instincts screamed there was something wrong, so he asked one of the orderlies pushing the bed, "Wait, I thought the operating room was that wa—"

One of the orderlies turned and clocked the officer in the face, sending him almost spinning and clasping in a heap.

The others slid the gurney into the elevator just as several officers caught up and started shouting at them.

The orderlies bringing up the rear turned, drew hidden weapons from the smalls of their backs and opened fire.

They hit one officer and causing him to collapse while the others dove for cover. The ones that found decent enough cover around the corners drew their weapons and began returning fire as the impersonating hospital staff retreated into the elevator. The bullets went flying past in each direction, some hitting the mercenaries, but they remained standing from their vests hidden under their scrub tops until the doors closed.

Less than a minute later, the elevator opened to the underground parking lot and they rushed the gurney to the back of a waiting ambulance and slipped their leader into the back. The 'doctor' climbed into the back of the ambulance along with another then shut the door behind them.

The others scattered and headed for several vehicles strategic parked. One vehicle pulled out to lead the ambulance and the others took up the rear in the ad hoc convey just as alarms were being sounded through the hospital.

West Manner

Outside Gotham, NJ

Jade slowly stirred as the morning sun warmed the side of her face with the drawn back curtains. Her breathing deepened and fisted the edge of what she thought was her bed sheet draped over her forearm and pulled the cape tighter to cover her chest and shoulders, keeping the bit of chill off her bare arms. As she stirred awake, she rolled over away to turn her back to the sun and attempted to go back to the sleep, but the combination of the light and warmth was awakening her senses too much.

She inwardly cursed for waking up as she was sleeping so peacefully and to why the curtains would be open in the first place because she always kept them closed. She sat up and pulled the 'sheet' around her, groaning as she felt a bit sore on her sides and the side of her jaw ached, but she felt refreshed.

She brushed some of her fallen hair out of her face while she recalled as to why she felt so sore. She took a deep breath as the memories came flooding back to her on how the night played out with a gladiatorial match between herself and practically a bull in her attempt to rescue Tori then getting home and being nursed back to health by Sikowitz and Super—no, Freddie and the kiss they shared that could have easily led to something more before her faithful butler's interruption.

She felt a rush of heat form under her cheeks and realized she was blushing with the thought of them kissing and something more actually happening between them. She clearly remembered taking a long warm bath to loosen her muscles then settling into bed with Freddie's presence to get her to and from the bathroom, but things got foggy after reaching the bed.

Her mind raced with the possibility that they could have picked up where they possibly left off. She looked down to see if there was any evidence of such an occurrence, such as not wearing any clothes, but she was in for a far greater surprise when she saw that she wasn't holding a sheet around her arms and over her chest. She saw emblazoned gold 'S' on the upper center of the red cape and over her chest where she had pulled it around her.

Jade's eyes went wide and just froze in shock, just too stunned to have any other reaction. The gears in her mind started turning again then spun wildly that perhaps she and him did do something last night. She took several deep breaths then looked under the sheet and was surprised once again in that she was fully dressed in her pajamas. She sighed in relief then instantly felt a sense of regret that something didn't happen between them.

She stewed in her confusion of having such conflicted feelings, but the apprehension or anxiety she felt eased with remembering that she was wrapped in the safe garment with a literal symbol of hope on it.

"Morning," Freddie soft voice called out as he entered from the end of the large room carrying a tray with breakfast.

Jade instinctively pulled the sheet up further to cover herself from the chill of the room and answered with a startled voice, "Morning."

The pair's eyes met, each directing uncertain and bashful expressions to one another.

Freddie slightly bowed his head to break eye contact with her and cleared his throat before offering, "Sikowitz fixed you some breakfast." He walked over and had a seat on the edge of the bed, setting the tray down in front of Jade as she crossed her legs under the cape.

The reporter kept his gaze down to the bed while Jade cautiously dropped the cape and picked up a glass of orange juice and took a sip. She had much preferred her morning coffee, but Sikowitz probably figured she didn't need the caffeine this morning. She sat the glass down and her eyes passed a look over him and raised an eyebrow at seeing him wearing a t-shirt and the oddly patterned boxers.

He noticed the direction of her eyes and awkwardly laughed, "Sikowitz was kind enough to let me borrow some clothes since well… it is just a costume, so I don't have clothes underneath it except for an undershirt and some underwear."

Jade sat the glass down and licked her lips, enjoying the taste of the fruit then attempted to make a joke, "You wear the shorts well. I think they look better on you than him."

Freddie softly chuckled and it instantly became infectious to Jade joining with a soft giggle.

The laughter trailed off and Jade turned to her pancakes. She picked up a little porcelain cup filled with maple syrup and poured some over the pancakes then replaced it on the tray. She cut a piece and slipped it into her mouth, enjoying the fluffy goodness, ignoring the soreness in her cheek. She mentally praised Sikowitz with his cooking ability as these were clearly homemade instead of just prepackaged frozen. She took another bite of the pancake while Freddie watched her enjoy her breakfast.

Jade continued eating with swiping a few pieces of cut fruit to pop into her mouth until she finally noticed that Freddie had been silently watching her. She took a sip of her juice to wash her food down then asked with her once pierced eyebrow, "What?"

Freddie lazily shook his head and answered with a smile, "Nothing."

The millionaire asked with a borderline sarcastic tone, "You just enjoy watching a girl eat?"

The once farm boy grinned and answered in a lighthearted tone, "I enjoy watching that you're here and able to eat."

Jade put on a tight smile then reluctantly answered, "Ah…"

Freddie returned with just a tight smile and answered, "Yeah…"

The silence was thick enough to cut it with the proverbial knife, one not sure how to continue while the other one didn't want to continue the conversation at all. However, Freddie pushed on and reluctantly questioned, "How are you feeling?"

"Sore, very sore, but I'm fine… as you pointed out, I woke up this morning and able to enjoy this breakfast… so I don't have a real head injury." She grinned and popped one of the sliced strawberries into her mouth to accentuate her point. "And chewing isn't all that bad. The taste more than distracts from it."

"You didn't have any bruising to your brain or I would have kept you up all night… or had taken you to a hospital…" He added with a laugh, "Probably out of state to keep your low profile."

"And you know this how…"

Jade trailed off when Freddie tapped his right temple and she realized that he was indicating his X-ray vision. "Oh that…" She took a deep breath then slowly let it out. She forced a confident grin and tried to distract from the seriousness of the conversation by asking in an almost accusing tone, "You just looked at my brain? You didn't check out the rest of me?"

Freddie's cheeks heated and answered, "I looked skinned deep and didn't pay attention to the… rest of you. I assumed Sikowitz checked the rest of you out before your bath to make sure the rest of you was alright."

"Really? You were raised that much of a gentleman not to look? You can tell the truth, you know…"

"I know all about the truth…" The reporter matched with a confident smile, "It's a requirement being a reporter, and I learned to be a gentleman first as a farm boy from Kansas and my Dad was an officer in the Army. So I checked what I felt a needed to, and did my best not to enjoy the… sights… of your form."

Jade nodded her head, unable to catch him in a lie and relieved yet disappointed that he didn't take a peek. She licked her lips then offered, "But what about a kiss?"

She really didn't want to bring up the kiss, unsure how to address it or the ramifications of what it meant between the pair that had only known each other for a few days, but her mind just popped up the question in a logical fashion.

"I might be gentleman, but I'm still a red blooded male…" Freddie cleared his throat and offered, "I kind of let nature take its course with that… and you returned the kiss."

"Yes… I certainly did…" Jade answered barely above a whisper, which of course he easily heard, while she looked down at her tray of breakfast and his cape in her lap.

The more colorful one of the pair offered with an awkward grin, "Look, we were both caught up in the moment and… emotions were running high and it happened. I'm sorry if I crossed a line. My intention wasn't to make things awkward between us."

Jade paused, allowing herself a moment to process his words. He was giving her a way out of any further attention to the kiss and making things awkward between them. However, there was another part of her that was offended by the suggestion. She questioned him with clearly laced offense in her voice, "That's all there was to it? Emotions running high?"

Freddie squared his jaw, seeing that he unintentionally struck a nerve, and answered, "I'll say that could be the primary reason. It's happened to me before. Something happened in my sophomore year where I had to expose what I could do to save a friend… she always had a little crush on me and things… emotions ran high. It didn't work out… I'm not eager to repeat mistakes."

The dark vigilante closed her mouth and slightly knotted her brow, studying his expression to see if he had the same subconscious physical ticks that a human would possess that would give her any hint of dishonesty. She didn't initially pick anything up and asked, "You didn't love her?"

"I deeply cared and still care about her, but… I just didn't have those feelings for her. It's just one of those mysteries of life on why we love the people we love and we don't love others that way." He snorted out a laugh and shook his head. "…it's why Sam doesn't particularly like me."

Jade took a second to put the pieces together than remarked with a barely contained laugh, "Oh, it was her sister? You broke her sister's heart."

"I didn't return her feelings… that's not malice on my part. I'm sure there were plenty of people at your high school and college that would have loved to date you, but I doubt you gave every suitor a chance for a date."

She nodded her head to the side as an acknowledgement of his point, so she turned to question, "And she knows what you are?"

"She knows I'm different, but I've never gone into the detail about being an alien with her. I really didn't know all the details myself at the time. All I knew was that I dropped down in a spaceship. I didn't get all the answers until after my father's death and went on a walkabout, but that's a story for another time."

Jade licked her lips and asked for clarification, "She fell for you before the 'S'?"

Freddie smile, reminiscing to a simpler time in Smallville, and answered, "You could say that… She's still my friend and… it's why I'm not all that eager to drop Sam off at a police station."

"Afraid she'll blab your secret?"

"No, I don't want her to see her sister behind bars just like you don't want to see her and Beck, so… I guess we're both conflicted."

Jade glanced down to the tray with her breakfast, thinking on what he had shared about himself. "There's a bit of a problem with your thinking, about that kiss I mean."

"And what's that?"

"You're assuming I like you. You're the one that initiated the kiss. Not me."

Freddie counted with a gentle smile, "And you're the one that is offended that I could suggest that there wasn't a deeper meaning behind it. Why is that?"

"I may play the bachelorette but I just don't let anyone kiss me, so they better have a good reason if they're going to kiss me. I will not be known as a harlot."

"Being thankful that you're alive isn't good enough reason?"

Jade opened her mouth, ready to snap back, but her words died on her lips. He being grateful that she was alive was a good reason if he genuinely meant it. She lowered her chin and glanced at her cooling breakfast. She shook her head and sighed with genuine curiosity and free of any hostility, "I'm too tired to play the games I do in corporate boardrooms, so why did you kiss me?"

Freddie took a deep breath, rallying his own courage to be truthful with his answer. "I'm grateful that you're alright, but… I'm not going to say that I haven't started feeling something for you over these last few days that isn't strictly platonic without necessarily realizing it."

Jade looked up and met his blue expressive eyes, questioning, "Why? Is it the looks? The money? The power?"

"I won't argue that you're not a beautiful young woman, I've lived as farm boy that was taught to earn every dollar honestly and for power… well, I think that goes without saying that I already have that covered… but if you're asking why could I like you that way rather than, say, Melanie? One of those great mysteries I mentioned, because she's sweet and kind and loving. Maybe it's because you saw through both costumes too, the vigilante and the mild mannered reporter and accepted me for what was left and you…I guess I feel a kindred spirit with our similarity that I didn't make with her."

Jade weighed his words carefully, finding pretty logical, but she couldn't help but laugh at his last point, "Similarity? We're as different as night and day."

The once farm boy laughed, "Pun intended?"

Jade crossed her arms over her chest and muttered, "You know what I mean. You're just so damn positive and I…"

"You're the pessimist? You think the worst in the world?"

She barely nodded her head with her soft whisper, "Yes."

"I don't see you that way. You may see the worst in the world first, but I see you're far more hopeful than you realize. The 'Bat' is that symbol for hope you're giving people that the world can be a better place. They shouldn't have to fear the night. I think you're not just trying to inspire that hope with people, but yourself. You want that hope for yourself… to give you some peace. That makes us a lot more alike than you think and besides, even if you're right…" He shrugged a shoulder and smirked, "…opposites attract."

"Again… you're assuming I could like you back that way."

"You were asking about my feelings, not yours and could you really blame me after a kiss like that?"

Jade struggled not to blush, believing that she might have given something away in protesting a little too much. She remarked while picking up her glass of orange juice for a moment of refuge, "All that proves is that I'm a great kisser."

Freddie nodded his head to the side with a boyish grin that used to drive many of the country girls wild and answered, "Well… I won't argue with that."

Jade sat the glass down, slightly frowning that his answer seemed more like getting the last word in instead of agreeing with her.

Freddie decided to emotionally probe her after she had done such a fine job with him, so he asked, "What about your feelings? You did kiss me back after all."

The lovely dark haired young woman answered with a flirty tone, "Maybe I was just caught up in the moment too? I was high on endorphins and thrill of the fight and… you are a handsome guy."

Freddie stole a sliced strawberry off her tray and popped it into his mouth then commenting with a grin, "Okay, if you say so."

"Getting a little flirty, aren't you?"

"I guess it's because I can relax around you. I can't really ever relax around them."

"Them?" she squinted her eyes. "I think your alien is showing…"

"You know what I mean… Sure, I can be me around regular people and not have to act all professional while at my job, but I can never relax-relax."

"Like you can do right now with me since I know?"

"I guess so… you're the only other person that knows the entire story except for my mom…" He slightly rolled his eyes and nodded his head to the side and added, "I told Sikowitz that I was an alien because I wanted to analyze whatever drug that guy was doping himself with, but we can talk about that later."

She slowly answered, not sure at the moment the significance of the priority of analyzing some new drug even if it was used to beat the chizz out of her, "Okay…"

Silence fell between the pair and Jade lazily picked at her food, unsure if how to continue or if she should continue the conversation. He had been honest with her about his developing feelings and he seemed to let her off the hook in really answering. Her avoidance in answering him didn't seem right, but opening herself up was a terrifying proposition after all the hurt she had felt in her past.

She started speaking without initially realizing it, "I haven't been in a serious relationship since Beck and I… my heart was torn out after we broke up for good and he… he was able to move on and be happy, but me… I just never bothered trying to move on. I didn't want to open myself up to that…"

Freddie quietly answered, "I'm sorry."

Jade looked up from the food and saw his compassionate expression. "You're the first person other than Tori… and of course, Sikowitz, to ever say that to me."

Freddie knotted his brow, clearly confused and surprised with the admittance.

The millionaire took another deep breath, fighting the soreness in her side, and answered, "The others just accepted it… I wasn't the nicest of people to get along with as a teenager and they accepted that it was all my fault with their silence. It was never really addressed after all these years. Vega's the only one of them who even tried to reach out and I just swatted that away."

The visitor from Metropolis remained silent, letting her deal with her feelings while hoping to be a calming presence.

Jade suddenly started laughing, bringing the back of her right hand to her mouth then questioned, "Are we listening to ourselves? We're talking about our relationships and our feelings like we're going to get into one. Are we really even friends? We've known each other for a few days—"

"And know each other's biggest secrets and what makes us tick. We've both taken a leap on the trust, and have been completely up front with each other…"

Whatever Jade was going to say was cut out from under her and just helplessly stared at him, lost on what to say next.

Freddie saw the confusion and look of being lost on her face. He offered an emotional hand, "I'm not suggesting that we jump into anything or have anything at all, just that I'm admitting that I care about you very much. Whether you feel the same, that's up to you."

Jade licked her lips and almost shamefully looked at her food before uttering, "Well… I don't want to disappoint you… but I'm a rich kid with a lot of issues as you can see and I'm not exactly relationship material."

"Not to make this a competition…" Freddie picked up the tray of food and shifted it to her left before scooting up closer to her, surprising the dark haired young woman. She looked up to see that he got close enough where their faces were just inches apart. He warmly smiled, trying to signal that it was for her and countered, "But I'm the last member of my species that flies around in a silly red sheet. I think I just might be the one with the greater baggage, so I'm not much up for complaining."

The secret dark vigilante studied his eyes, seeing the genuineness and openness that he was offering her. She struggled with a bashful smile and reached up to cup his right cheek, brushing her thumb over the bone. She felt herself drawn to him and softly pressed her lips against his lips then slowly deepened the kiss.

They closed their eyes while Jade moved her hands up to his shoulders and Freddie moved his hands to rest on her hips. They pulled away seconds later, Jade catching her breath then cracking a smile, a smile she didn't use just for public appearances, but a genuine one she hadn't felt in a long time.

Freddie raised an eyebrow and jokingly asked, "Okay, what was that one for?"

Jade lazily shrugged a shoulder and asked, "Maybe I'm glad to be alive?"

The Metropolis strongman smirked and let her have the question, not wanting to push her.

Jade rested her head on his forehead and closed her eyes, taking several deep breaths, enjoying the emotional and physical safety in being in his presence, but she needed to know one more thing from him. "What does this mean now?"

"I don't know. We don't have to rush into anything or put labels on it, just… know that we care about each other and take it from there to see where it goes."

"Okay… I can do that…" She unexpectedly laughed, "It took me six months before I became exclusive with Beck in high school."

Freddie refrained from making any joke that he'd hope they would know something in less time and just enjoyed the lovely young woman's presence.

They remained in each other's embrace, ignoring the rest of the world for perhaps several minutes until Jade brought up, "There was something else last night that happened… other than just the kiss… about me stopping being 'the Bat'…"

Freddie gingerly brushed his fingertips up and down her back and answered, "I meant what I said Jade. I don't want you to die on the street and that is what is going to happen if you keep up this… crusade."

"I don't think I can give up being 'The Bat', not right now… at least not until I finish this thing with the mob and you have no right to ask me to stop… I have to stop them…"

He took a soft breath, pausing to contemplate how he was going to answer her challenge, but trusted his heart, "I may not have the right to, but I'm asking anyway. If you keep going out there night after night, you're going to die… you can't bring your parents back. They wouldn't want you to die out there on some cold street one day like they did. They would want you to be happy and live your life."

His words struck her like a sledgehammer in the chest. Her eyes burned with rage as she felt the telltale soft stinging in the back of her eyes that tears were forming. She slipped out of his grasp and off the bed, letting the cape in her lap slide off and paced around a few times to let her anger rage to avoid eye contact. She finally turned, revealing a few escaping tears that rolled down her cheek and over the bridge of her nose and stared him in the eyes and shouted, "What right do you have to presume what my parents would want?"

Freddie slipped off the bed and caught her, gently taking her arms to have her face him through slowly blurring eyes with angry tears and meet her gaze. He answered with a sharp tongue, "Because that's what my dead parents wanted for me: to live. They wanted me to live so much that the put me in janking spaceship and blasted me here just before the planet blew to bits. I know that loss you're feeling because I lost them and I lost the man that always saw me as his son… not just some alien from another planet that's not human… and I lost my home and my entire species and I couldn't save any of them, but there was one thing I could do and you can do the same thing... You'll have to in order to keep your sanity."

The reminder that he had lost his parents without a chance of knowing them then losing his father and that he was the last of his kind, that he had lost his entire culture and people—ever denied from his heritage—slapped her in the face harder than with any punches that mercenary had struck her.

She looked down at the floor and swallowed in embarrassment and asked, "And what was that?"

Freddie brought his finger under her chin to get her to look back into his eye and answered in a comforting tone, "I forgave myself for surviving and you should do the same. Forgive yourself for living."

Jade sucked in a sharp breath, staring hard into his eyes. He had reached the core of why she did what she did. She didn't want other families to go through what she had to grow up without and thought people should be able to live in peace in their own city, but when it came down to it, it was the guilt that she couldn't save them and that she had lived. She had survived when they didn't and it wasn't fair.

She took a deep breath as she looked down at their feet, subconsciously taking note that he had ten toes to go along with his ten fingers. She answered with a hitched breath, "I don't know if I can."

"Don't know if you can give it up or forgive yourself?"

She looked up at him with uncertain eyes and answered with a struggling smile, "Maybe both?"

Freddie rubbed his hands up and down her arms, trying to give her comfort then pulled her into another gentle hug. "It'll be okay. I promise."

Jade rested her face against the side of his neck and just relaxed in his embrace, saving the battle in her heart and head for another time.

A knock on the door interrupted their intimacy, causing Jade to pull her face away from the refugee from another planet's neck. She bowed her head and muttered in mild disgust, "He has the worst timing…"

She looked up and to the door to call out, "It's open."

Sikowitz opened the door, but paused in what he was originally going to say in seeing Jade in Freddie's arms. He cleared his throat then informed her, "I'm sorry to disturb you, but there's news that the police have arrested Shawn Quincy."

Jade eyes widened and uttered, "They have?"

"Yes, apparently they arrested him within hours after Tori's rescue."

Jade slipped from Freddie's embrace and walked to Sikowitz. "How did they manage that? How did they connect Quincy to it?"

"I don't know, just that they're reporting it on the news."

Jade walked over to the night stand and picked up the remote control and was about to turn on the television to catch up with the news, but Freddie was by her side in an instant and reached over and palmed over the top of her hand. She looked up to him with a cocked eyebrow.

He bashfully explained, "Before you turn that on, there is something you should know if you haven't heard. It's about Lee…"

Jade blinked and questioned, "What about her? She's dead."

Freddie took a breath and regretfully answered, "Yes and apparently Beck killed her last night."

She nodded her head and regretfully answered, "I know… I saw it on the news before they started reporting about Tori's kidnapping."

The reporter sympathetically nodded and apologized, "I'm sorry."

"For what?"

"For Beck. I know you didn't want it to come down to this."

She studied his eyes and saw the regret in them for having to bring the subject up. She dryly pointed out, "He gave me his word. He was going to give us a chance to get enough evidence to get her arrested and he went back on it. I guess I know how little it… or I… meant to him."

Freddie was in the awkward place of defending the long haired mobster, "He said he didn't have a choice."

"He didn't have a choice. How do you know?"

"I confronted him—Superman confronted him—before finding about Tori and confronted Beck. He said he found out that she was going to skip town, so he was going to stop her."

Jade shook her head and glanced at the coffee table.

"I told him that too and he justified that once she got to Cuba, they wouldn't extradite her and she'd get away with it, but…"

Jade got up from her seat and started walking around, covering her mouth with a hand and wrapping her other arm around her stomach as she didn't want to hear any more from him.

Freddie got up from his seat and regretfully continued, "…there's some doubt that he actually killed her."

The lovely young woman stopped in her tracks and looked to him. She sarcastically answered, "You're talking about Cat. I heard on the news before Tori's kidnapping broke that one of Lee's bodyguard accused her of doing it… and who's the one that started this line of bullchizz? That's right, your annoying 'partner' reporting that crock."

Freddie clamped his mouth shut, unable to come up with an immediate response as he wasn't happy that she had reported such news.

Bringing up Carly's name relit the fire of anger she had towards the reporter and she intended to quench it. She looked over her shoulder and called out, "Erwin?!"

"Yes Madam Jade," he hastily answered, startled with her shouting as he was standing in the room with them.

Jade turned a furious look to him and demanded, "Get me Howard from the Planet on the phone."

Freddie asked with concern, "Why?"

The dark haired businesswoman turned her angry stare at him and answered, "To have him fire that nosey reporter's ass."

Freddie clenched his jaw and countered here demand, "No."

"No?"

"You heard me, no. You're not calling him to have her fired."

Jade slightly nodded her head and answered with barely constrained patience as if talking to a disobedient child, "Look, I know you have feelings for her…" She refrained from commenting on how that could affect them and how he could just turn those feelings off. "…but I'm not going to let her ruin my friend's reputation and just get away with it."

Freddie hastily countered, "Another reporter would have reported what the guard was going to say anyway. You can't just fire her for reporting what he's saying."

"Would you have reported what he said if you were there?"

"Yes, but—"

Jade pointed to the door and shouted, "Get the hell out!"

The 'mild-mannered' reporter sharply retorted, not willing to back down from her, "No, I will not. I get that this is your house and I'm a guest, but I'm not just going to take off because you can't stand to face the truth and-"

"And what truth is that?" Jade said with a near sneer. "I should just accept that one of the closest and important people in my life just murdered someone in cold blood? Beck, I'm just coming to terms with, but without some pretty hard evidence, I won't listen to this libel about Cat… And it pisses me off-"

"I get that…" he said, trying his best to remain calm and not get into some competitive interruption with her. "You may be mad, but what you're about to do isn't right. I would have reported it because it was legitimate news of the one of two living eyewitness to the events. It's not my place to judge the news in my reporting because I'm not a commentator, or work for some Opinion column, but I do have a job to give as accurate a report as I can about an event with the information that is available. I'll keep digging until I have the whole story and correct the record if it's necessary."

The pair stared off at one another, seeing which one would figuratively blink first.

Sikowitz interrupted their staring contest with some words of wisdom, "He's right, Madam Jade. You can't just punish someone for doing his or her job. She's a reporter and as much as we don't like the news she's reporting, that's not her fault."

She darted her eyes back and forth, feeling like they were teaming up on her. She wanted to find refuge in her anger for the turn of events, but their eyes stared back with conviction, not wanting to antagonize her. She shook her head again and growled, frustrated for the moment that she didn't have more morally weak friends. Seeing that it was a losing argument for the moment, she decided to focus on the true main point. She questioned as if she was swearing, "Why was Cat there?"

Freddie sighed in relief that apparently she was dropping the matter for the moment and answered, "I asked Beck that and he told me that she wanted to confront Mrs. Lee and that's where the doubt comes from about whether or not he really killed her even if he admitted it to 'Superman'."

"I don't care that Kwakoo is saying that Cat actually poisoned Mrs. Lee before Beck got there. He's a damn liar trying to take revenge on Robbie for his dead mistress. Cat wouldn't do such a thing. She may be furious, but she just wouldn't murder someone."

Freddie glanced to the floor, remaining silent for the moment.

Jade furled her brow. "What?"

"Nothing."

She crossed her arms under her chest and demanded, "What? Do you think she did it?"

He deeply sighed and answered with a hesitantly meeting of her eyes, "I'm not just going to believe the man at face value, especially since we had to stop from murdering one of his coworkers on Lee's orders, but…"

"Then what's the problem?"

"I may not morally agree with what she did—if she did it—but, I couldn't completely condemn her for it if she did. I…"

"You what?"

Freddie stood up and straightened his posture then answered, "I arrived just in time to see what the guy in the mask did to you and… it really made me mad, so… I just didn't beat him to incapacitate him and save Miss Vega… I broke him for what he did to you, I was ready to…"

He closed his mouth and cleared his throat several times, clearly not wanting to repeat

Jade slightly narrowed her eyes and slowly questioned, "You were ready to… what? What do you mean by 'broke'?"

He slowly answered, "I snapped his right arm, broke his wrist, broke his left leg and gave him a few more broken bones… if it wasn't for that drug in his system, I would have killed him… crippled him at least. I never put that much force in trying to stop someone and I wasn't even concerned about it."

Jade swallowed down the queasiness she felt at imagining him doing such a thing the brute that threw her around like a rag doll and had no problem doing the same to her if he hadn't been interrupted. She was equally disturbed at the prospect of his power yet comforted that he was willing to us such power to protect—perhaps avenge her in some chivalric notion. She licked her lips and quietly asked, "And you did that for me?"

Freddie glanced at his feet and licked his lips then answered, "Yeah, I guess so…"

If there was any lingering doubt that he cared about her more than just the professional relationship they had developed during their investigation then there was the proof.

He lifted his chin and continued with a firm and confident voice, "I've just known you for a few days and I felt that way, but Robbie is her fiancé and perhaps she felt helpless that she wouldn't get that for him and took matters into her own hands."

Jade clenched her jaw, trying to rein in her emotions as she felt a whirlwind of different ones from anger to helplessness in feeling that she had failed Cat once again in not getting the one responsible for Robbie's injuries. She could only hold back the storm of emotions for so long, so she bowed her head and placed her face in her hands. She muttered with a slight shake of her head, "This can't be happening… Beck and Sam are mobsters, Robbie's probably permanently scarred and Cat may have murdered Lee…"

Freddie's shoulders slumped and looked to her with a sympathetic gaze. He closed the distance between them and gently wrapped his arms around her, careful not to exacerbate the bruises and soreness.

The dark brunette hitched a surprised breath from his touch and wanted to pull away, but she slipped her arms around his sides and returned the hug, burying her face into the side of his neck. She didn't question letting him hold her, just accepting his caring embrace.

Sikowitz opened his mouth prepared to say something at seeing the pair share an embrace then quickly closed it. He may have interrupted them the first as that was turning into something that would have lasting emotional and potentially physical consequences, but decided it was better not it speak up and let them have their moment.

Freddie whispered into her ear, "I don't know how this is going to turn out, and I can't exactly promise that everyone will get through it, but-"

Jade closed her eyes and muttered in disgust, "Yeah… because half of them will end up in prison… or worse."

He pulled back just a little to meet her eyes and assure her, "This is still the United States where one is innocent until proven guilty in a court of law."

She incredulously asked, "You're asking me to trust the system? Me? Really?"

He confidently smiled with his answered, "You wouldn't be doing what you're doing if you didn't."

Jade raised a stunned eyebrow.

His smile grew bigger as he explained, "You're leaving the bad guys for the police and you're investigating the bosses to have them arrested… you're not killing them and calling it a day."

Jade bowed her head, not really looking at what she was doing in that manner, but thinking that she was raging against the system that allowed for the criminal element to flourish. In this incident, perhaps she should have just enough faith in the system to deal with the heartbreak of knowing that her friends were slipping into a darkness they couldn't escape.

"You said a 'but' there before I jumped in…" she said with a heavy breath. "What was it?"

"I was just going to say that no matter what happens…" he whispered, moving her hair behind her ear with a subtly soft moment, "I will be right by your side."

She pulled away from his grasp and headed for the bathroom. She offhandedly remarked, "I need to get dressed for the day."

Sikowitz fearfully called out, "You're not going to the office today are you?"

Jade ignored him as she slowly pushed Freddie then Sikowitz to lead them out of her bedroom. She threw Freddie another smile then shut the door behind them. She turned her back to the door then headed for her bathroom, but she stopped when she saw his cape forgotten lying on her bed.

She carefully picked red garment up, almost as if it was a holy relic. She looked at the golden 'S' inside a diamond symbol then ran her fingertips over symbol, feeling that there was something deeper to the symbol. She made a mental note to ask Freddie what it meant because she just didn't believe that it meant being an 'S' for Superman since the press made up the name. She brought the material to her nose and took a deep breath, smelling his scent, bringing a smile to her lips. She placed a kiss on the symbol then carefully draped it back over the bed before heading to the bathroom to start her day.

West Residence

Outside of Gotham City, NJ

About half an hour later, Jade walked down the stairs to the living room wearing a low-cut scoop-neck dark top that was sure to catch people's attention but was still tasteful, topped with a black leather jacket and a pair of hip hugging blue jeans.

Sikowitz asked with almost a mocking tone, "And where are you off to, Madame Jade?"

Jade brushed her loose hair off her cheek and over to her shoulder and answered, "I'm going to go see Robbie and check on Tori while I'm there. She was kidnapped after all, and while I probably should have checked on her sooner, I was a little busy trying not to pass out."

Freddie got up from his seat on the couch and cautiously suggested, "You could call her. I'm not sure you're well enough to go out. I shouldn't have to tell you that you took quite a beating from that maniac and… you have a visible bruise on your cheek and even with the ice last night, you're still rather swollen in the face. I'm not sure how you could explain that."

Jade touched her cheek and felt the tenderness of her skin, sighing from the sensation. She had seen the mark in the mirror, but thought that she had covered it with enough makeup then again, she didn't use a lot of makeup due to her complexion.

Sikowitz hastily added with concern lacing his voice, "Mister Benson is right, Madame Jade. You need your bed rest… you need a proper doctor to exam you to see if you alright."

Jade snorted out a breath, feeling a bit frustrated with him trying to mother hen her. She looked to Freddie and asked, "You have your X-ray vision. Do I have any broken bones? Any lacerated organs? A concussion?"

Freddie sighed and gave her another once over, something he had done several times during the night to make sure she wasn't bleeding internally. "No, but I'm not a doctor. I can see you're pretty bruised up—fortunately no bruising to the brain that I can tell, but I don't know if there could be something more seriously wrong with you that I wouldn't recognize. I'm seeing a little swelling in your back and I know enough about medicine to know that could lead to possibly temporary paralysis."

Jade took a deep breath, considering that she got lucky even if she didn't want to admit it to either of them. She could have been paralyzed if not for the extra padding in the spine and around her neck. She had to take a borderline dangerous amount of painkillers to remain standing with the risk of becoming addicted to them.

The reporter followed up, "Is there a doctor you trust to see you?"

The millionaire shook her head and answered, "No, they would ask too many questions about how I got hurt then it would be into the tabloids… or Carly would rush to try to figure out why and print it all over the Daily Planet."

Freddie squared his jaw and returned with an irritated look in his eyes, not appreciating the roundabout swipe through Carly as if he was responsible for her actions. He shook his head and muttered, "Are you trying to get me to argue with you?"

Jade crossed her arms under her chest and asked, "I don't know. Do you feel you have to argue with me?"

The reporter was about to take the bait, but Sikowitz grinned and interrupted, "It's her way of flirting with you. She's trying to push you away… it took years for her to stop it with Tori."

Jade defensively answered, "You pushed it and I don't think your scheme was purely about just friendship."

"I pushed you to let go of your hostility towards her. If something happened a little more than that…" He innocently raised his hands. "I wouldn't be making any judgments."

Freddie raised an eyebrow, certainly shocked by that history between the millionaire and actress. However, he set that aside and answered, "So I shouldn't take offense with this… 'combative nature'?"

Jade remained silent, silently fuming as she shared looks of annoyance back and forth between her butler and the young man that had gotten far too close too soon for her to comfortably handle.

Sikowitz laughed, "No you shouldn't."

Freddie slightly cocked his head and filed that bit of information away in his mind. He slacked his smile and continued, "Look, I know you're mad and frustrated with what happened with Quincy's hired gun and I know you're mad at me because I'm suggesting that you hang up your cape, but I'm saying this…" He glanced to Sikowitz for support then continued, "…we're saying this because we care about you and we don't want to see you hurt and right now, you need bed rest at the very least."

Jade studied his eyes again, still trying to see if there was some form of duplicity from him, but just couldn't spot it. She had taken years to fully accept people truly caring about her, one part her being genuinely suspicious of people's 'goodness', one part assuming they wanted something out of her due to her wealth and there was a very short list of people she believed truly cared about her and accepting a new person wasn't the easiest task for her.

"Look, I understand it. You're looking out for me, but I'm going to go see Robbie and Tori… I owe her that much after abandoning her."

Freddie corrected her with a mix of concern and stern tone, "You didn't abandon her."

"After you showed up, I had to stumble away and left her to her fate."

Freddie lulled his head to the side and replied, "I thought you just trusted me to make sure."

Jade opened her mouth ready to retort, but realize that she didn't have one and any lie would just be insulting to him. She not only trusted him to be the 'Superman' that the papers had attested to, with his acts of selfishness, but trusted him as Freddie. In some corner of her mind, she probably would admit she left because she trusted him to make sure Tori would be alright.

She shook her head, not wanting to think that deeply and answered, "Never mind, I'm going and there's nothing you can do to change my mind."

Freddie regretfully pointed out, "Actually, I could stop you."

The secret vigilante squared her shoulders, something that was actually exacerbated her soreness and defiantly asked, "Without hurting me more? You'd what?" She flicked and eyebrow and taunted him in a sultry manner, "Tie me down to the bed… I didn't realize that the sweet farmboy was into that sort of thing? Besides that's not changing my mind…"

Freddie frowned, not appreciating the accusation. Unfortunately, she had a point that his options were limited in carrying out her suggestion.

Sikowitz interrupted before the potential couple could get into an argument, "Jade, I'm going to let you go see Robbie then Tori then you're coming back for bed rest and I'm not taking no for an answer. Is that understood?"

Jade returned the stare, but knew she couldn't out argue him when he was in his 'parental' mood.

The butler looked to Freddie and rhetorically asked, "I trust that you can drive her to where she needs to go and bring her back when she's done? No investigating, no snooping, no crime fighting?"

"I'll bring her back…" He turned a look to her and clarified, "…if she'll let me."

The faithful butler looked to Jade that told her not to argue with the young man when it was time for her to return.

Jade took a deep breath then let it out, signaling she wasn't going to fight with them over it. However, she felt she needed to point out the obvious flaw in their plans, "If you're playing my chauffer, it's going to look odd for you to step out wearing that and you can't exactly ride with me in your outfit."

Freddie looked down to see that he was still wearing the night clothes that Sikowitz had given him for the night. He bashfully smiled and asked, "I'll meet you at the hospital, okay? Wait for me there? No, investigating without me, okay?"

Jade returned with a devilish smile, being ambiguous whether she would do such a thing.

The reporter sighed then patiently grinned before heading headed for the stairs to make his way to her bedroom to change back into his alter ego.

As soon as Freddie was outside of normal earshot range if he was human, Sikowitz looked to Jade with a stern gaze and voice, "I mean it Jade, you're not going to be doing any more investigating at all, young lady. Lee's dead and Quincy is in jail right now for Tori's kidnapping. You won."

Jade pointed out, "There's still Mason. He's still out there."

"Who you can get later."

She sternly countered, "If I wait he'll be able to consolidate her power and he'll be more dangerous than ever. He's off balance now and I can get him. I still need to link him to Carson's death before he can cover it up completely. It's already forgotten in the news because of what happened to Robbie and Tori."

"Do you really think you're in any shape to do such a thing?"

Jade frowned then harshly retorted, "I've already heard this from Freddie and I'm already sick of it. I can take care of mys—"

Sikowitz took her by the upper arms and turned her with a furious and acerbated stare. "You almost died Jade! If it wasn't for him you would be dead right now. Do you really have a death wish Jade? Do you really want to die? Do you want me to bury you?"

Jade flinched, hearing the fear in his voice and the look in his eyes.

"I had to bury your parents then I had to watch you grow up without them, turning you into a bitter and angry young woman that puts on another mask before you leave this house every day and pretend to be happy and everything is fine while inside you are so torn up for the life you didn't get to have with them here and that the only way that you find any peace is to dress up as a giant bat and fight criminals… and I don't think you really find much peace at all doing it. You have to let it go… just let it go."

Jade took a deep breath then coolly answered him, "I'm not interested in dying, I just… I don't want other people to be dying because someone else thinks their life is worthless… as if they lived or died didn't matter when it got in the way of their greed."

"And you're the one that has to stop them to the point that it could kill you? Do you think dying would absolve you of the guilt you feel? I know it's the survivor's guilt that really drives you. You can't blame yourself for what happened that night."

Jade tried to defiantly stare him down. She had heard the same thing when she was a child with the counselors that she had seen after her parents' death. She didn't believe it then and she really didn't believe it now. However, one person's words did put things in a new perspective.

"Freddie told me the same thing… he lost his parents before he even met them… he lost his entire people as if snuffing out a candle, and he forgave himself for surviving, but…" She looked up to him with tears threatening to spill. "If I didn't want to see that show, we wouldn't have been out that night for them to have been killed… and if that mugger had been behind bars instead, they would still be alive."

Sikowitz regretfully sighed, "So you'll carry your own irrational burden and society's?"

"Don't we all carry society's burden? I'm just doing my part to do something about it."

The butler reluctantly remained silent, not sure how to counter not just her view, but entire mindset.

Freddie walked down the stairs in his blue suit and red cape, putting on the mantel of being the 'Man of Steel', but Jade still saw the farm boy from Kansas.

Jade quickly turned her head and wiped under her eye with her thumb before he could see what she was doing and not ruin her makeup.

Freddie cautiously asked, "Is everything okay?"

Jade lifted her head and smiled to the costumed vigilante. "Fine, everything's fine."

He didn't look all that convinced, but decided not to push the issue, "Okay… I'm going to go then met you at the hospital unless you can wait for me to drive back?"

"No, that'll take too long. I'll meet you there."

"Then I guess I'll be your chauffeur for this morning."

Jade rolled her eyes and pointed out, "You don't have to do that. I can drive myself."

"Do you really expect me to let you drive yourself in your condition?"

The millionaire sternly looked to the balding man, feeling as if he was really treating her like a child.

"I'll drive you to the hospital and Mister Benson can pick you up to go see Tori."

"That'll work. I'll see you there."

He offered Jade a bashful smile as if he was trying to work up the nerve to speak with his first crush.

Jade half smile, feeling a little bashful herself from the innocent way he was gazing at her.

Sikowitz glanced back and forth, sighing with a smile to see that there was a potential bright spot in her life, however, he needed to move this along if she was going to go out then get back so she could get that bed rest. He politely offered Freddie, "I'll see you to the door."

"Oh right, thank you."

The butler led the colorful costumed individual to the door, but Freddie stopped just before Sikowitz opened it. He looked over his shoulder and remarked, "I just realized that I can just walk out the front door and fly away. Someone might notice the direction I flew from."

Jade crossed her arms under her chest and lazily cocked her head. "I highly doubt that. I don't exactly have neighbors out here."

Sikowitz offered, "I'll simply drive you close to your hotel room and let you out at a secluded spot so you can…" He flapped his hands in the motion of flapping wings.

The onetime inspiring actress joked, "You're going to have him hide in the backseat and throw a blanket over him?"

The balding man cocked a half smile and casually answered, "Not such a bad idea, but the windows are tented so it shouldn't be too hard to hide him." Sikowitz motioned towards his left and began walking back further into the house before there could be any further discussion. "This way."

The pair of crime fighters turned looks to each other then followed the butler to the garage.

Author's Note: A lot happened in this chapter and I hope you enjoyed it. Don't be shy with the reviews. Thanks, OneHorseShay