Hello dear readers! I hope you had a Happy Easter if you celebrate it and if you're reading this story, saw and enjoyed Batman vs Superman since it has a lot of mixed reviews and feelings… quite different from this story.

Fanfic-Reader-88: A certain pair did get closer during breakfast. Her parents' death irreparably changed Jade, setting her life on this course through unjustifiable guilt. For a character who's original characteristic in not caring about others, it is an interesting take on Jade.

Challenge King: Thank you. I've envisioned Trina as WW for a while and glad to finally introduce her. Using her I think will give a unique take on the Amazon. As to say other heroes you've mentioned, they would have to be saved for another story that would focus on all the heroes as really this is a Bat story with Superman giving support.

LindavO: They can be cute together. Making it work would be a trick with such opposite views and personalities. They say opposites attract, but forget to mention that they then drive each other crazy. If it was easy, it wouldn't be fun. Thanks for reading.

Okay, on with the story.

Rating: T, Language

Chapter 17

Gotham General Hospital
Gotham City, NJ
Tuesday, June 26

Tori passed a number of fidgety police officers and collectively calm members of Jade's privately hired security guards as she made her way down the hallway to Robbie's private hospital room. She politely smiled to them as she walked past, seeing a greater sense of alertness than she had seen during her previous visits, then knocked on the door once she reached it. She waited for someone to answer and heard Cat's voice called out on the other side, "Who is it?"

"It's Tori."

A second later, the door opened to reveal Cat and she nearly tackled her to the ground with the exuberant hug.

The actress caught the smaller young woman and returned the hug and warmly greeted her, "Hey Cat."

The redhead returned with a smile then let her go and turned to escort her into the room.

Robbie was sitting up while lying on the bed watching the continuous news coverage about the rash of gang related crime starting from the robbery of Police Benefit to his kidnapping then Tori's abduction, sprinkled with rapid speculation about the Joker, the Bat and Superman.

Tori quietly called out, "Hey."

Robbie pulled his attention away from the television and tried to smile at his lovely friend with the right side of his face. "Hey, are you alright? We saw what happened on the news."

Tori rolled her eyes and lazily answered, "Oh, you know… a little kidnapping, that's all."

Robbie slightly shook his head and the visible part of his mouth dropped before incredulously asked, "A little kidnapping? You were abducted from your own hotel room and held prisoner for hours. The Bat had to save you!"

Tori took a seat by the bed and plopped down in it. "If it meant spending a few hours with some not so friendly people to finally nail Quincy then it was well worth it. They were the ones left bloody and beaten."

The injured district attorney wasn't amused by the flippant behavior with the stern brow he knotted and glared at his friend.

Cat retook her seat next to Robbie on the bed and asked, "What happened? The news said the Bat rescued you then they said Superman was there."

The actress relaxed back in his seat and explained, "She did. I was held up in some office in a warehouse at the docks and they were setting an ambush for B—Joker, for the Joker, somehow thinking kidnapping me would draw him out like he did for Robbie. She showed up first and beat the chizz out of them. Superman showed up after she was done. He made sure I was safe until the cops showed up."

Robbie bitterly remarked, "So vigilantes once again have to do the jobs of the cops."

Tori's instinct to defend the police due to her father railed up and challenged, "Robbie, I don't think that's fair to them."

The D.A. turned in bed to let his legs hang off the edge to sit beside Cat and fiercely answered, "Isn't it? The cops should be on top of these Mobsters instead of covering for them. They only seem to care about their payoffs by the mob bosses, not looking for you—and you're one of theirs daughter—or protecting the city. I wouldn't be surprised if they helped in covering for your kidnapping or that one of them out there might have an 'accidental' discharge of his weapon in my direction."

Cat's stomach felt like it had dropped with the pang of fear and worry of such a thing happening. She just hoped that the security people Jade got to protect Robbie was that easily bought off.

The dark haired actress was quick to respond, feeling personally offended by the accusation, "That's not true; I'm told they were tearing up the city looking for me. Vigilantes don't have the same constraints as police, so… I guess they would have an easier time in finding me than the police."

Robbie didn't look convinced at the explanation, but he really didn't want to get into a further argument with his friend. He took a deep breath, something he was lucky he was able to do as his lungs hadn't burned, then continued, "Okay, if you say so, but at least the good news is that they're arraigning Quincy this morning. He should be denied bail and be sent off to county until trial unless the Feds what a jurisdiction fight over him since they made kidnapping a federal offense."

Tori quickly inquired, "Does it matter who puts him away as long as he's put away?"

The D.A. hastily tried to correct a potential perception, "I'm not interested in the credit, but… it would help reassure the people that I was actually doing my job they elected me to do."

"They can't blame you for what the Feds do. When campaign season rolls around I'll be here to remind people what you've done."

"I appreciate it, but I'm not sure you'll be so willing to do that after I tell you the bad news."

Tori knotted her brow and cautiously questioned, "Bad news?"

Robbie shared a hesitant look with Cat then answered, "The guy that was the leader in kidnapping you…"

"The big muscular guy the Bat beat up?"

"Yeah… he escaped last night."

Tori stared at him for a moment, not sure that she heard him correctly then asked, "What? How? He was a broken mess. I saw them have to take him away on a stretcher."

"Apparently he has some gang of his own and they impersonated some hospital staff. They tried to sneak him out pretending that he was having a heart attack, but the cops guarding him thought something was fishy and it led to a shootout and they managed to get away. They don't have a clue where they could have gone."

Tori looked over her shoulder to the open door to see if she could spot anyone unfamiliar among the staff. She got up from her seat and walked over to the door, closing it and wishing there was a lock.

Robbie could see what she was doing and assured her, "They've tightened security to make sure only those supposed to be here are here and Jade's security is hyper vigilant."

"Would explain why I had to show my ID three times just to get up here," she muttered an answer then looked back to them. "So… he's out in the wind?"

"I'm sorry Tori, but the FBI is on the alert for him and the US Marshals have joined the search. They'll find him."

Tori glanced to the floor, brushing some hair behind her ear and thinking on what it meant for him being out. She wasn't so much afraid of him coming after her, but he had sworn to get revenge on the Bat and Superman. She shook her head and put on a smile to lighten the mood, "It's alright. If the Feds want the case, let them take the blame for letting him get away. They'll have to find him and he should hope they catch him before the Bat or Superman gets him."

Robbie almost snarled as he felt his anger rising, "They shouldn't have to find them. The cops shouldn't have let him get away in the first place, now he's in the wind where he could come back and we lost another connection we could have made between him and Quincy. If you add the break-in to the lab and the stolen evidence, it just makes things worst. I knew there was a bunch of crooks on the force, but the incompetence is unbelievable."

Tori held up a hand and asked, "Whoa, what evidence?"

Cat eagerly answered, "They think the Bat broke into police headquarters."

Tori's mouth slacked, a little surprised with the question then tried to laugh it off, "They think the Bat broke into the police department?"

The redhead answered in a clearly disapproving tone, "Yeah, they won't say what she stole, but she did break in it. There are rumors that she stole some evidence, maybe to your kidnapping."

Tori shook her head and flippantly replied, "Do you really think she would go through the trouble of rescuing me then just steal the evidence to prevent them from putting Quincy away?"

Robbie remarked, his anger calming but still a hint of frustration going through his voice, "I don't know what to make of a vigilante. She can't be all that rational if she's dressing up as a giant bat to fight crime."

The lovely brunette offered with a hopeful smile, "It's becoming a mad world Robbie, so maybe we need someone that doesn't act as rational as we think. I don't believe for one second she stole anything that would jeopardize a case for nailing Quincy, not after what she's done for us."

The brunette actress's explanation seemed to satisfy Cat as her expression softened though Robbie still didn't look entirely convinced.

Rex's voice supplanted Robbie's voice as he spoke up, "You can say that again sweet cheeks. This Batwoman must have a serious screw loose to dress up like that, but did you see her? I hear she's hot." He attempted to whistle, but more couldn't quite make the pitch. "Robbie here hasn't gotten online to see any of the pictures they have of her… I still haven't got to update my TwitFlash. I haven't used it in years. I know the ladies must be missing me."

Tori slightly tilted her head and eyed the former ventriloquist, still a little unnerved at hearing Rex's voice without the puppet. She patiently answered, "No, I didn't, I just know from what Superman told me."

Robbie raised his still intact eyebrow and asked, "So he did show up too?"

"Yes he did, but after she did all the work. He just stayed long enough to make sure I was safe until the police arrived."

Robbie offered, confused by the conflicting reports, "Your father told me that Gibson is saying that Superman did that to him and swore revenge on him."

Tori knotted her brow.

"Your father is having the courtesy to keep me up-to-date with what's happening even if I'm stuck in this hospital room."

The Hollywood starlet raised her brow and formed an 'O' shape with her mouth in realization. "Oh… anyway, yeah, he did say that, but he's just mad that the Bat—a woman—bested him."

Robbie asked with a fairly incredulous tone, "Really? He's saying that for his ego?"

"Why not? If Superman did that to him, no one would give it a second thought. Have you seen the picture where he's lifting a car above his head? And he's bullet proof, but if a woman did that to him… he'd never be able to live it down. What would other criminals think of him?"

Rex inserted himself back into the conversation, "Yeah Rob, remember when that girl beat you up with her braids in elementary school?"

The D.A. took a deep breath, not appreciating Rex bringing up that unfortunate event. He ignored his alter ego for the moment and asked, "So you want to perpetuate the urban legend about her?"

"She saved me and she saved you, so yes, I want to help her. If the criminals out there think twice in committing their crimes knowing what she could do to them, then I think that's great… besides, it's inspiring knowing that a woman can make that kind of difference."

The partially curly haired attorney pointed out, "Yeah, but one that I'm still going to have to issue warrants for her arrest now that she's confirmed to actually exist."

Tori eagerly defended the young woman that had risked her life to save her, "On what? The word of the criminals she's caught. That's going to make for a very compelling case against her, assuming that even if you caught her. How do you know there is just one of her? How would you know it was that particular person wearing the mask that day? Besides, do you really have to prosecute her? Don't you have discretion on that?"

The former ventriloquist answered with a sigh, "It's prosecutorial discretion, not just ignore someone committing crimes. That would make her above the law."

Tori put on her beautiful smile that dazzled her fans and replied with a lighthearted tone, "I guess I'll have to root for her not to get caught and put you into that situation."

Robbie crossed his arms, seeing that Tori was being a fangirl to the masked vigilante and that any logical argument would fall on deaf ears, though he really didn't have much of a heart to argue his point. He found it hard to get mad at a person that had apparently just gotten as fed up as he did with the system and they were just trying to each do their part from inside and out.

The news broadcast interrupted their brief moment of silence in giving an update to the shootout at Nozu the previous evening and mentioning again Kwakoo's accusation that Cat was the true perpetrator of Mrs. Lee. They made it a point to mention that Cat hadn't been reached for comment.

The actress was hesitant commented on the news report, but she needed to gauge the truth about what happened at the Japanese restaurant from the source and not just her father's secondhand account and the media report, "So it's is true that Kwakoo falsely accused you of murdering Mrs. Lee?"

Cat closed her mouth shut tightly then softly answered, "Yeah… it's like she's trying to hurt us from beyond the grave."

"My dad said you met the Joker last night and that he's the one that killed her."

Cat glanced to Robbie, hoping he wouldn't see though her fibbing, "I caught him in the distance. He didn't spot me hiding under a table."

Tori instantly picked up with the look in Cat's eyes to see that she was lying. She wondered if Robbie had seen the same look and if he had, would he believe her account of the event. "I guess you were lucky."

Robbie added, not seeing anything strange with Cat's behavior at the moment, "It doesn't explain why he would do such a thing or why he would try to rescue me from her in the first place."

Cat patted him on the arm and answered, "I told you, maybe he's a crook with a heart of gold. He's only been stealing from Mobsters in the first place."

The D.A. flippantly remarked, "Yeah, but leaving a few bodies in their wake."

Cat crossed her arms and pouted, frustrated that he wouldn't be as understanding as she believed he should in light of what they had done for him.

A nurse knocked on the door, thankfully interrupting any potential argument, and cheerfully announced, "Excuse me, we have to change the bandage."

Robbie looked annoyed at being bothered and reminded of his injury.

Cat looked to Robbie with a surprisingly stern expression, preventing him from making any complaints.

Tori was a tiny bit surprised that Cat had put her foot down, but was relieved that if it was necessary to keep Robbie's mind focused on recovering, she was all happy for it. She suggested with a struggling smile, "Why don't we grab something to drink while Robbie has his privacy. I know you still love your Wahoo Punch."

"Okay…" Cat turned and gave a kiss on Robbie's uninjured cheek then followed the actress out of the room.

Robbie forced a smile then looked to the nurse with less than a friendly manner.

Superior Court
Gotham City Courthouse
Gotham City, NJ

The courtroom was packed with mostly reporters, but a few of the city's most influential citizens and a healthy amount of sheriff's deputies for court security were sprinkled among the waiting attendees for the arraignment hearing to begin.

Among those gathered to watch the arraignment proceeding, was Mason Thornesmith in a row behind the Defendant's table and one Carly Shay from Metropolis, interested in the local rumored mob figure due to Superman's reported involvement in the rescue of Tori. After her encounter with Jade, she doubted Tori would be willing to talk to her to confirm Superman's presence.

As Carly waited with the others, she discreetly slipped her phone from her pocket, tapped the speed dial button then brought it to her ear. The other end of the line rang several times then picked up with a quiet, "Hello?"

"Where are you Freddie? I thought you would be covering Shawn Quincy's arraignment?"

"I'm on my way to the hospital with Jade to see Mister Shapiro then check on Miss Vega."

Carly demanded in clear shock, "Are you actually getting an interview with them?"

"I'm not concerned about an interview with them, but to see how they're doing."

"Really? You're not going to try for one? Did you forget that you are actually a reporter?"

She was answered with a pause then Freddie firmly answered, "I'm not going to take advantage of having met them before all this started. I'm too close to the story to objectively cover it from their perspective."

Carly paused on her end of the phone for a second then commented, "Wow Freddie, that's pretty naïve."

Freddie sighed on the other end then answered, "Look, anything I may talk to them about would be off the record in order for them to help me in my investigation to expose the criminals that were responsible."

"Yeah and how has that worked out for you? Lee's dead and I'm the one at Quincy's arraignment?"

Freddie was about to retort, but she hastily cut him off, "I got to go." She pressed the end call button as she saw Quincy being led into the courtroom by one of the bailiffs.

The businessman walked with a confidence in his step and a proud look on his face, giving off the sense of a man that was eager to have his day in court. He took his place behind a defense table with his lawyer instead of a podium where a defendant would usually stand as they would process one after another. They quietly conversed as everyone waited for the judge to arrive.

They didn't wait long as just moments later the judge, an older gentleman with graying hair, walked out of a corner door and proceeded to his bench.

The bailiff called out, "All rise for the honorable Judge Newman!"

The courtroom got quiet as the judge had a seat, adjusting his robe in place as he got comfortable. The attendees took their seats with Quincy, his lawyer and the ADA remained standing.

The judge called out to the bailiff with a clearly agitated voice from someone that was known for his laid back attitude, "Next case please."

The bailiff looked at his clipboard then read, "In the People verse Shawn Quincy, the charges are aggravated assault, conspiracy to kidnap and aggravated kidnapping."

The judge lazily asked, "Do you understand the charges as they have been presented?"

Quincy didn't wait for his lawyer to answer, "Yes your honor I do."

"Do you wish to enter a plea at this time?"

Quincy slightly lifted his chin and proudly answered, "Yes your honor, not guilty."

The judge looked to the ADA standing behind the prosecutor's table and asked, "People's position on bail?"

"Due to the nature of the crime, the clear organized crime connection and the defendant's financial means, we would ask that bail be denied."

Quincy's lawyer spoke up, "Your honor, Mister Quincy is a fine pillar of the community that runs numerous businesses throughout the city that employs thousands of her citizens. The very idea that the D.A. would even suggest that he be denied the opportunity for bail is insulting and an undo prejudice that he is guilty of this horrendous crime."

The prosecutor spoke up to challenge the defense lawyer, "My office is not interest in putting any prejudice on the guilt or innocence of this criminal proceeding other than bringing legitimate charges against him for a jury to decide such a question. We are only attempting to insure that the defendant is present to answer for the charges in a court of law. One of the lead individuals in the kidnapping escaped last night and one officer was shot during the course of the escape."

"My client as I just mentioned has extensive ties with the community and has all the reason to stay to clear his name of these baseless charges on the testimony of either disgruntled employees or coerced by the police to implicate him for some nefarious reason."

A murmur swept the courtroom and a number of glares were directed at the defense lawyer by the deputies from the insult to their brothers in blue.

The judge beat his gavel and demanded, "Quiet, quiet in this courtroom."

The A.D.A was quick to counter, "Your honor, I object to the defense counsel's accusation of police misconduct."

The graying haired judge sternly answered with a disapproving look to the defense attorney, "I personally agree with your sentiment counselor and that's a matter for a jury to decide and not relevant to the matter of bail."

"Respectfully it is your honor if their warrant for such an arrest is based on fabricated evidence and police coercion of witnesses as requiring my client to remain in jail would further a miscarriage of justice. I do have a motion for your consideration to dismiss these charges as the prosecution cannot sustain the indictment."

Newman sternly answered, "I will take up your motion as soon as we have concluded this bail hearing. Do you have any further points you would like to make before I decide?"

"No your honor."

The A.D.A spoke up, "I do your honor. Mister Quincy has an extensive amount of assets and homes outside the state. I believe that should be taken into consideration in his ability to leave the jurisdiction."

"I object your honor that somehow my client's success in business would be held against him and doing so would turn the very idea of being a productive member of society into something as a sign of criminality."

The graying judge took a moment to quietly contemplate the arguments from each of the attorneys, causing the courtroom to become deathly silent. He took a quiet breath then answered, "Due to the circumstances and seriousness of this case—such as this being a kidnapping for hire, one of the accused co-conspirators has already violently escaped police custody and that any amount that I could impose on the defendant would not guarantee his appearance before this court and in fact might violate his right to not have excessive bail be placed upon him—I am denying bail to the defendant. He shall be held until such time as his trial."

The courtroom burst into chatter with a number of reporters trying to rush out of the courtroom to be able to get out to the various stations' cameras and the newspaper reporters to their papers to get the news out.

The judge banged his gavel again and shouted, "I will have order in this court or I will hold every one of you in contempt! Sit down and be quiet!"

The courtroom immediately became silent and the people that had stood up immediately retook their respective seats.

Once the courtroom was quiet, the defense attorney hastily argued, "Your honor, respectfully, you don't have the authority to deny bail for a non-capital offense."

The judge took a deep breath and a hint of a smile formed on his face. "It's only a non-capital offense because a vigilante showed up in time to stop them from really harming Miss Vega and I'm not one of those judges that lose any sleep over the fact that I'm overruled by an appellate judge."

The defense lawyer remained silent and passed from the corner of his eye to his client that the situation did not look good.

The judge continued in a friendly manner, "Now, we can retire to my chambers for me to entertain your motion for dismissal."

Newman banged his gavel then stood up, signaling the attendees to stand up while he stepped down and slipped into a back room.

Quincy sternly looked at his lawyer then glanced over his left shoulder to see Thornesmith seating two rows back. The fellow mob boss gave him a slight nod of the head and the smallest of smirks. Quincy wished he had more confidence in the British gangster, but he didn't have much of a choice if he was going to get out of this mess.

Gotham General Hospital
Gotham City, NJ

The young ladies stepped out of the room and headed down to the waiting area. The room was mostly deserted with perhaps half a dozen people scattered about the large room. Tori led the shorter young woman to a drink machine and pulled out her wallet. She glanced over her shoulder and asked while slipping the dollar into the machine, "So you didn't get a good look at Beck and Sam?"

Cat shook her head and answered with a jumbled answer, "No, I didn't get a good look at Beck. His back was turned to…" She clamped her mouth shut as she realized she had confirmed the Joker's identity while trying to deny it. She quickly corrected herself in an unconvincing manner, "I mean, I saw the Joker and his blonde wife… I mean…"

Tori assuring smiled and handed the redhead the red soda. "It's okay. I know it's them too. After the Bat put down all my kidnappers and before the police showed up, they came to rescue me. We ah… talked. "

A bit of color seemed to drain from Cat's face, relieved that someone else knew and she wouldn't have to carry the secret alone. She accepted the soda, glancing at the silver top and bashfully asked, "What do we do?"

Tori sighed, putting off the decision she knew she would have to make long enough, then answered, "I know what they did to Mrs. Lee was wrong, but—"

The redheaded botanist snapped in disgust, "It was not wrong!"

The others in the room turned their attention to the loud redhead.

Tori looked over her shoulder to see the attention they were receiving.

Cat followed Tori's eyes and saw they were the center of attention. She didn't like the scrutiny, so she grabbed Tori's wrist and started pulling her along, something Jade had done a few times back when they were in high school. They exited the room and walked down the hallway until they were near a deserted corner. She let go of Tori's wrist and turned a defiant stare to her high school friend.

"They gave Robbie justice. That's not wrong to me."

Tori lowered her voice to question in a hushed tone, "You think killing her is justice?"

Cat answered with increasingly flushed cheeks, "If he had died, she would have gotten the electric chair if they could have actually convicted her, so what's the difference if Beck did it? You and I know she would have gotten away with it just like Quincy is going to get away with kidnapping you. You really think he's is going to go to jail for what he did to you? You don't think he's going to bribe some judge or some juror and get away with it?"

Tori's shoulders slumped at hearing the defeatism in her voice. She quietly replied, but she certainly had last her conviction to the position, "I… I was hoping that with Robbie that it didn't matter how much money or power they had, he'd make sure that they would face justice."

The shorter young woman replied with venom lacing her voice, "Well he's too busy being stuck in a hospital room because that evil gank did that to him, so why not let them do it for him?"

"Because they're just taking vengeance into their own hands."

"When there's no justice left in this world, what's left? Just to stand by and be at their mercy? What would have happened if the Bat or Superman didn't show up?"

Tori clamped her mouth shut, looking back with an almost helpless, but certainly embarrassed expression as she really didn't have an answer for her. What were they supposed to do when the law is unable or unwilling to protect the citizenry? The Bat, Superman and she had taken the law into her own hands, but… how far did one go over the line to obtain justice? Was it to the point where one decided if someone should live or die?

Those questions were too philosophical for her to contemplate right now and really didn't want to argue with Cat, especially when they involved her dearest friends. The only reason that it was being discussed was because another friend was in an intensive care unit and would have permanent scarring.

Fortunately, Cat gave her a way out of further debate by continuing, "I don't want to argue with you, I just… I don't want Sam and Beck to go to jail. If Lee hadn't done anything, Robbie wouldn't be here and they wouldn't have done anything."

"I don't want them to go to jail either, so I guess you answered your own question… we're not going to do anything. We'll keep their secret… and be their accomplices after the fact. I'm not going to identify them and you're not either."

Cat nodded her head, agreeing with the pact yet hating that she knew the truth and would have to keep it a secret from Robbie.

As the pair stood in awkward silence and Cat finally opened the canned drink, the crisp hissing sound indicating that it was fresh, and took a sip from it, Tori caught from the corner of her eye Jade and Freddie walking past them down the hallway. She noticed to her surprise that they were dressed casually, Freddie in particular wearing a buttoned up shirt with rolled up sleeves and jeans. She smiled at appreciating his ruggedly handsome appearance.

The actress called out to them, "Hey!"

Jade and Freddie stopped in their tracks and looked to the lovely ladies. The darkest haired young lady crossed the distance to Tori and wrapped her arms around her. "Oh my God, you're safe."

The millionaire knew perfectly well that Tori was safe, but Freddie wasn't sure she was saying that to keep up appearances or that she just needed to see with her own eyes that Tori was alright.

Tori smiled at the gesture, knowing that even after all these years that it was still rare for Jade to show such affection to her friends. She returned the squeeze to welcome the hug. "Yeah, I'm okay."

Jade groaned at the pressure on her side and tried to hide the grimace of pain.

Tori pulled back and looked at her with concern. She noticed the heavy makeup around Jade's left eye and asked, "What's wrong with your eye?"

The darker haired young woman brought her fingertips to her cheek then quickly came up with a lie that sounded a bit ridiculous to her ears as it left her mouth, "I wanted to unwind after everything yesterday and coaxed Sikowitz into a bit of a sparring match… he caught me pretty good."

Tori gave her a dubious look, but answered, "I can understand that. I accidentally did that to a stunt man onetime. I almost broke his nose."

The millionaire found it a little hard to imagine Tori pulling off such a punch, but laughed it off, "Hazards of being a stuntman…"

Tori tightened her smile at the weak joke then cautiously suggested, "Maybe you should have someone look at it?"

Jade waved off her friend's concern, "I'll be fine with ice and painkillers. I don't need it getting into the press that I got hurt. They'd have a field day with it with all the speculation."

Tori gave her a doubtful gaze, but held her tongue, knowing that arguing with Jade would be a fool's errand. However, seeing Freddie over Jade's shoulder left her an opening to tease her onetime rival, "What about Freddie? He's a member of the press."

The glasses wearing reporter grinned and pointed out, "I'm not a tabloid reporter."

The brunette playfully poked his chest and teased, "But you were sent here to specifically write a piece on her."

Freddie embarrassingly smiled. "I was to write a profile piece on her, not find a way to make a sensational piece out of it and necessarily make her life an open book."

Tori directed a flirtatious smile to Freddie and commented, "Isn't that considerate of you?"

Jade saw exactly what Tori was doing and her instincts that hadn't revealed themselves in years came rushing out of her heart and to the forefront of her mind.

She was jealous.

She attempted to suppress such feelings from visibly showing and slipped an arm around Cat's shoulders and pulled her into a sideways hug, acknowledging her friend.

Cat returned the hug around her waist and snuggled her crown against the side of Jade's neck.

The darker haired young woman forced a smile, suppressing the sharp pain in her side from her friend's friendly hug. She was more sore than she thought and perhaps thought that perhaps she shouldn't have argue with Sikowitz as much in wanting to go out. She rubbed her hand up and down Cat's upper arm.

"It's good to see you too Cat."

The botanist laughed and released her friend, directing a relieved smile at her friend's presence.

Jade looked to Tori and felt a little awkward in having to play dumb as she asked, "How are you? I was… glued to the TV waiting on news about you."

"I'm fine. The Bat saved me." She grinned as her praised the vigilante, "You've should have seen her. She beat the mess out of nearly a dozen armed guys."

Jade resisted the urge to point out that it was just under eight and it was under the cover of smoke. "Yeah… it must have been something to see… It's kind of hard to believe she could have done such a thing on her own."

Freddie laughed with an approving glint in his eyes, "Maybe she's a dark creature of the night?"

Jade looked to Freddie and cocked an eyebrow, silently questioning his suggestion.

The reporter easily smiled and half-heartedly joked, "What? She's clearly something special if she can do all that."

Jade wanted to be flattered with the suggestion, but she couldn't help but feel a little inadequate for there to be a suggestion that she couldn't do that on her own without some mystical powers. "She couldn't have done that just being a woman?"

Freddie half smirked and casually replied, "She could, but it does add to the mystic and put a little more fright into the criminal element that they might not be dealing with something entirely human. I think her point was to be something more than a person."

The former inspiring actress slightly squinted, considering his words in how supportive they seemed while at the same time he had made it clear that he wished she'd put the cape away.

Tori observed them for a moment, feeling that she was missing something in their unspoken communication. She wasn't aware of anyone that outside their immediate group that the millionaire communicated in that way and it caused her to wonder how close she had become with the reporter.

Jade let her point go and looked to Cat and asked, "How are you? I heard about what happened at Nozu."

Cat stiffened and glanced to Tori, hoping for some moral support in having to lie to Jade.

The savvy businesswoman instantly picked up the shift in Cat's body language, thinking perhaps the event was traumatic and she was skittish. She tightened her hug around Cat to assure her that she was alright.

The redhead bashfully smiled and answered, "I'm fine. I hid and they didn't notice me…" She shrugged a shoulder they weren't going to hurt me anyway."

Jade eyed Freddie from the corner of her eye, almost challenging him again about Carly's reporting of Cat's involvement of Lee's death. She turned a smile to Cat and stated, "I'm just glad you didn't have to find out that for sure."

Freddie passed his eyes over each of the ladies, seeing that they were going to pretend that Beck and Joker weren't one in the same. He understood their loyalty to their friend, but he couldn't just play along as ignoring what Beck had done wasn't healthy. He quietly and partially regretted asking, "Are we going to pretend that she was in any danger with Mister Oliver? He is the Joker and we all know it."

The three lovely young ladies turned their attention and stunned expressions to him. Cat was the first to gather her wits and responded in a near panic voice, "Beck's not the Joker. Why would you believe Steven's lie?"

"Because I… ah…" He cleared his throat and corrected, "…was told that Superman saw him as the Joker when he was getting Mister Shapiro out of the van. He's not going to lie about what he saw."

He turned his eyes to meet Jade, wondering if she was going to deny the conversation that he shared with Beck when he showed up at the hospital to check on Robbie.

Jade clamped her jaw tightly, probably enough to send the pain in her sore cheek shooting to her brain and her eyes burned a disapproving gaze so intense that Freddie wondered for a second if she could unleash heat vision onto him.

Cat frowned and knotted her brow, turning an angry gaze to him and Tori looked bashful and figuratively caught between a rock and a hard place.

Freddie eyes darted among the three, seeing he was the odd one out, but he couldn't back down from the truth. "I know he's your friend and I don't mean to sound like the bad guy, but the truth is the truth. I don't like it any more than you do."

Cat fiercely hissed out, doubting his understanding tone, "Why? Why would you care? It would just be a story for you."

The glasses wearing young man gently countered, not wanting to turn the conversation into an argument, "Because I've been avoiding calling Melanie and telling her that her sister is one half of a new Bonnie and Clyde. It's going to break her heart when she finds out. I don't want her to watch her sister go to prison, real prison this time instead of juvie as she did in junior high and high school, but I can't stick my head in the sand either."

The lovable botanist shut her mouth and a flash of blush formed on her cheeks as the retort derailed any momentum in trying to paint Freddie into a bad guy in pointing out the obvious. He was stuck in an impossible position with them.

Jade held her tongue, one part of not having a retort and another part is that as much as she wanted to make it easy for him to be the 'bad one' to take out her frustrations on with the situation, he wasn't at fault and actually supportive.

Tori quietly spoke up, but refrained from tipping her hand about what she knew of the Joker's identity, "Look, there's no need for us to get upset at each other. It's a janked up situation we're in with what happened with Robbie and… whether or not Beck and Sam are really involved, we can't turn on each other. We're going to need to be there for one another."

Cat looked mollified for the time being, but she was clearly unhappy with Freddie pointing to the elephant in the room about their friends.

Jade reluctantly added, "Tori's right. We're in this together…" She eyed Freddie to add emphasis to her point that she was including him in the group. "…and we're going to have to deal with what happened each in our own way."

Freddie remained silent, wanting to avoid any further antagonism.

The secret and beautiful vigilante motioned to the hospital room and spoke, "Now we're here to check on Robbie, so…"

Cat tightened her smile and turned to lead them back to the room, passing Freddie a lingering glance.

Freddie bashfully smiled to Jade and Tori as they looked to him to see his response.

The four returned to the hospital room as the nurse was leaving it, the older woman politely smiling to them as she passed them.

Robbie rested comfortably back in bed and managed to smile at seeing Jade.

Jade walked over and brought him into a hug. She rubbed a hand up and down his back and asked while she pulled away to meet his visible eye, "Hey, how are you feeling?"

"Cooped up," he answered with a hint of disgust.

She understandably nodded her head and replied, "Well, hopefully you'll be able to get out of here soon. Have they said when they'll start some real treatment?"

"Not yet… they keep arguing about muscle damage and how to treat it before any skin grafts… I don't have much of a butt to steal skin from—"

Rex interrupted with a laugh, "Yeah, too bad you couldn't donate some Jade with that fine behind you have… have baby soft cheeks and it would go along with some of that blood Tori donated back in high school."

Freddie blinked and his mouth formed an 'O' shape, shocked hearing the clearly distinctive voice of the D.A.'s alter-ego and what a lood remark about the millionaire.

Jade glared at the ventriloquist, wanting to ring the puppet's neck, but had to settle with a threat, "Rex, I'll find your body later… to do some painful things to it, but right now, I'm concerned about Robbie's condition. You're not slurring your speech, so the damage must be only skin deep…"

Robbie narrowed his visible eye, showing that her remark hit a little too close to home.

Jade sighed with an eye roll, "I'm not saying that to be insensitive. It means you're in better shape than we thought. Every little victory counts."

Robbie glanced to his lap, clearly not feeling wholeheartedly about Jade's positive spin on an aspect of his condition.

Jade followed up with a slightly stern tone, "Don't pout on us Robbie. You need to stay positive. I'm the pessimist, remember?"

Cat retook her seat next to Robbie on the bed and snuggled up to his right side, rubbing her left hand up and down his other side.

Jade pushed on, not letting her friend get down in the dumps, "We've been working on growing cultures for skin grafts and grafting them on animals and the results have been really positive. We're going to go for human test trials soon and we can simply have you be one of the first test subjects… if you want to risk it. You can always wait for later trials to make sure we have the procedure down. We're really going into the unknown with some of these techniques."

Tori questioned, a bit shocked by one piece of the news, "You've been doing animal testing?"

Jade rolled her eyes and answered in a tired voice, "Testing in the sense that we've been trying extraordinary measures on animals that have been injured or sick and were simply going to be put down because the vets couldn't do anything for them. We don't go injuring animals to try to figure out how to put them back together."

The redhead felt a ray of sunshine in her heart and ignored the side conversation of the once frienemies and excitedly grabbed Robbie's arm. "Did you hear that? You're going to be all better."

Robbie turned his good eye to his fiancée, but wasn't as enthusiastic or as hopeful as her. He knew testing was a long way away from a sound and reliable treatment and was not going to get his hopes up.

The D.A. finally acknowledged Freddie's presence with a look, noticing that he had remained quiet and almost in the background to their discussion.

Freddie had pushed down his feelings of guilt when seeing Robbie's bandage face. He slightly nodded his head and greeted the D.A., "Mister Shapiro."

"Mister Benson."

"It's good to see you're doing better and up."

Robbie sarcastically spat, "Yes I am… I'm far better than Mrs. Lee is doing in Hell."

Freddie politely smiled, not sure how to respond to the question without antagonizing the injured man.

The curly haired man tightened his smile and continued, "You'll forgive me if I'm not up for any interview, especially since your partner reported that Cat supposedly murdered Mrs. Lee."

Freddie tightly smiled and diplomatically answered, "What happened to you is clearly newsworthy, but I'm not here for an interview. I was just with Miss West and we wanted to see how you were doing. As for my partner… she reported what Mrs. Lee's bodyguard reported, nothing more. He was a witness to what happened and any other reporter would have reported what he said. The press shouldn't be expected to suppress news."

"You call him falsely accusing my fiancé news?"

Freddie straightened his posture and wore a professional demeanor. "I call reporting what he saw as newsworthy because he was there. I'm not judging the validity of his statement, that's for the reader to decide."

"You don't have to repeat his slanders statements against her. It's clearly libel."

"I don't doubt your knowledge as a lawyer, but I know something about the law too in being a reporter and know it's only libel if he didn't say it and we wrote that he said it, not the content of his statement. It's a fair report and I know the paper would be more than happy to report Miss Valentine's account of the event… though that should be part of the public record soon enough with the police report that took down his account of events. When it becomes available to the public, I know Miss Valentine's account will be published."

Tori asked in what she hoped was one of clarification and not antagonism, "So you're defending her?"

Freddie calmly answered, taking Tori for her tone, "I'm defending the institution of a free press just as Mister Shapiro would defend the institution of the legal system being a lawyer and—" He looked to Robbie and Cat. "—if you want to bring a libel suit against the Daily Planet, I suggest you speak with the owner of the paper… Miss West."

Robbie, Cat and Tori turned to their high school friend, showing a mix of annoyance, curiosity, amusement and a hint of fear of Freddie pointing out the elephant in the room that the one that would ultimately be responsible for paying any damages would be Jade.

Jade crossed her arms and nearly glared at Freddie. She muttered in disgust, "I should fire her. It would save me a lawsuit."

"You can, but it isn't right and if you do…" He took a deep breath then finished, "I'll quit the paper. I wouldn't want to ultimately work for a person that wants to curtail my civil liberties just because a story might embarrass her friends."

Jade blinked, unprepared for Freddie to simply throw the gauntlet down to make his point.

Tori jumped into the conversation with a near panicked tone, "Wait a second, let's not just throw out ultimatums."

Freddie quickly answered, "I'm not throwing one out." He met Jade's eyes and pointed out, "I'm just pointing out that you told me the first time we met you would have fired me if I did nothing but a puff piece and I have my journalistic integrity. I'm holding you to your word."

Jade's shock grew as he had turned her own words against her.

The other three looked just as stunned that Freddie would openly challenge her. They knew that in private that Jade had lightened up just a little since high school, but she was still openly fierce and not to be taunted yet apparently a humble reporter could put her back on her heals.

Freddie looked to the D.A. and botanist and continued, "About the story… I would have reported exactly what he said and what Miss Valentine said if she cared to speak to me. You're the one that has to have a little faith in the people that put their faith in you as their D.A. that they will see if for what it is: the ravings of a gangster that worked for the woman that tried to have you killed."

Robbie felt like he had just been slapped, but with a dose of his own integrity.

Freddie pushed on with the momentum, "As I said, I'm not here for any interviews. I'm just here to check on you Mister Shapiro and Miss Vega after our visit with you, but if Miss Valentine wants to give a public statement, I'll make sure it is broadcast far and wide in the paper and the site."

Robbie had to deal with the press in the past when he was an A.D.A and during his campaign, but he hadn't encountered someone like Freddie. The fellow young man appeared to be the real deal in having integrity as a reporter. He was feeling a hint of guilt being mad at him for Cat's sake. He decided to test such integrity and asked, "You have two of the people at the center of the major story gripping the city and you don't want to interview us? Is your boss going to be alright with that?" He quickly clarified, "Your immediate boss."

"I don't wish to take advantage of the situation where I've been investigating with Miss West the mob connection to police function robbery and Carson's death. I'll get my story on the mob without having to delve into your lives which would turn into public exploit."

The others quietly contemplated his position, each making their own judgment about the man's integrity.

Tori quietly volunteered with determination lacing her voice, "I'm willing to give you an interview. My fans want to know what happened and the public should know what the mob is willing to do to get what it wants. They can't hide in the shadows anymore."

Freddie shook his head and attempted to assure her, "You don't have to do that."

The actress slipped up next to him, looping her arm around his right arm. She sweetly smiled, "No, I insist. I don't want your boss to think you're not doing anything." She made it a point to pass a glance to Jade and teasingly smirked.

Freddie looked to Jade, almost as if he was asking her permission to go with the attractive brunette.

Jade raised a return eyebrow, curious that he was being considerate as if they were a couple, something that Beck had ignored when they were together in high school.

Tori picked up on the questioning gaze, curious as to why Freddie felt he needed to do such a thing.

The millionaire awkwardly smiled and answered, "I'm not eager to leave, so…"

Freddie smiled to the actress and suggested, "I guess I could interview over brunch if you're interested."

Tori tightened her looped arm with Freddie and escorted him out of the room, answering him with an enticing smile, "Sounds great to me."

As soon as they were out of view, Robbie firmly asked Jade, "What was that about?"

Jade turned back to the couple and asked, "What?"

"Why did he come with you if he wasn't going to try to get an interview with us?"

"We're still investigating together and Sikowitz insisted that Freddie go with me today, besides, he did want to check up on you as the decent thing to do."

"Why would he do that?"

"He doesn't trust me driving after our… 'sparring'," Jade answered with a slight shake of her head.

Robbie questioned, "Sparring?"

Jade subconsciously rubbed her left cheek. "I needed to relieve a little stress, so I coaxed Sikowitz into a little sparring and I dropped my guard and he clipped me in the cheek. He's all terrified that I have some head injury, but I'm fine."

"Are you sure you don't have one?"

The taller young woman resisted making a long standing joke about people thinking that Cat possessed one that needed examining and calmly answered with a nod and half smirk, "I'm sure. I'm fine, but…" She grinned, but her eyes clearly showed that she wasn't happy. "I can't stay out too long or he might come to look for me to make sure I come home for some rest."

Cat pointed out with a fretful expression, "He cares about you Jade. He doesn't want anything to happen to you."

Jade resisted rolling her eyes as she answered, "Yeah, yeah, I know but it can be a little frustrating at times. I am an adult."

"But he's been your dad since…" the redhead trailed off, not wanting to open up old wounds.

The orphan turned a sharp gaze to Cat, but quickly softened it as she shouldn't get upset for her friend bringing up the obvious. She quickly changed topics, but it was cautious as she was unsure how she really felt about the nosey reporter despite her blaring it all over the news her possible guilt with Mrs. Lee's death and didn't want to further upset her friend, "Are you really going to fire that reporter?"

Jade palmed over her forehead and sighed. She took Tori's original seat then answered, "I already had this conversation with Freddie and Sikowitz this morning and they clearly thought it was wrong to do that simply for reporting the news no matter how mad I got over it, but this is the first time he said he'd quit over the matter."

Robbie incredulously asked, "What does it matter whether he quits or not? Why not give him the pink slip too if he thinks it's alright for what Carly did to Cat?"

Jade dropped her hand and looked up, but paused in giving him an answer.

Cat's eyes lit up as she saw something in Jade's expression she hadn't seen in a long time. She nearly shouted with the glee she felt, "Ewww, you like him!"

Jade turned a scrawl towards her longtime friend, but even her negative expression couldn't dampen the redhead's mood. She slowly answered, not wanting to give Cat a point where she could further wedge open her emotional state, "No…"

The redhead's penetrating stare and growing grin forced Jade to reluctantly admit with an eye roll, "…okay, well maybe a little bit, but he's got a point about journalistic integrity. I would have fired him if he didn't have any and…" She turned her gaze to Robbie. "…he's right in so many words that you running and winning the office was because you thought the office needed integrity. I can't exactly fault someone willing to stand on his own integrity."

Cat clapped her hands in glee that Jade was interested in someone, forgetting all about the negative feelings that Freddie had brought up in forcing them to openly talk about Beck being the Joker and defending his colleague.

Jade knotted her brow, this time giving a curious look to Cat. "What?"

"You like someone. Are you going to go out on a date?"

"No!" she answered in a near panicked voice. "We're not going out on a date."

"Why not? You like him. Doesn't he like you?"

"He likes me, but…" Jade took a deep breath, feeling a rush of heat to her cheeks in embarrassment with her admittance.

Cat squealed and looked like she was going to burst with excitement.

Jade clenched her sore jaw, struggling for an answer then replied, "Look, some feelings and things have been said between us, but that's it. We're not talking about getting into any kind of relationship. We're just… being ourselves and we have more important things to worry about than my romantic life."

Robbie almost mockingly asked, "So because you like him, you're not going to fire his co-writer?"

Jade sighed and rubbed her fingertips over her forehead. She dropped her hand and looked at them with an exasperate expression. "Look, I'm wazzed off at her, I really am, but… he and Sikowitz have a point and maybe…"

Cat walked to her and gripped her forearms, "It's alright."

The injured attorney looked to his fiancée and uttered in disbelief and mild outrage, "So she gets to say that about you so Jade can get her man?"

Jade turned a near withering look to Robbie, not appreciating question.

The redhead looked over her shoulder and answered, "Look, it's not going to undo the damage with her firing her, but it could sabotage their potential relationship."

"We're not together," Jade stressed with a sigh.

"But you could," the botanist happily pointed out with a nearly face breaking grin.

Jade rolled her eyes and Robbie crossed his arms over his chest, nearly pouting that it looked like someone else was going to get away with something.

Cat took a seat next to her boyfriend and gave him a kiss on his uninjured cheek. "Don't pout Robbie."

"I'm not pouting. I just don't like her looking like she's getting ahead because of her reporting."

Jade gently mocked, "I may not fire her, but do you really think this is going to be getting her ahead at the paper that I own? Raise? Promotion? Christmas bonus?"

Robbie let her point rattle around in his head for a few seconds, considering her point and Cat's willingness to let it go for Jade's sake in pursuing a possible romantic lead. He reluctantly decided to let it go for now, but he wouldn't forget about the pretty reporter from Metropolis.

Rex decided to spring up into the conversation and laughed, "So we're not going to sue you? Jamn it, I was hoping to buy me a new car to take the ladies out."

Robbie shouted, "Rex!"

Jade shook her head, slightly amused by Rex's joke but it gave her an idea that he should buy them a car as a wedding gift.

Cafeteria
Gotham General Hospital
Gotham City, NJ

Tori and Freddie sat across from one another after the actress grabbed a light breakfast through the cafeteria line and he a cup of orange juice. She smiled to the reporter, appreciating his 'boy-next-door' looks in his casual attire then took a quick sip from her orange juice while he pulled out his PearPhone from his inside pocket and began, "Alright Miss Vega—"

Tori sweetly interrupted, "You can call me Tori."

Freddie bashfully smiled, pushing his glasses back onto his face to make sure they didn't slip off the brim of his nose. "Alright Tori… you can call me Freddie."

The actress's smile grew, glad that they were on a first name basis. "Okay Freddie,"

He laid the PearPhone on the table and tapped the screen to begin recording, "Whenever you're ready."

Tori took a sip from her beverage then began her recount of the evening beginning with settling in for a restful evening when three masked men broke into her apartment to kidnap her all the way until the police's arrival at the warehouse with Freddie asking a question here and there for clarification. However, she had specifically left out mentioning anything about the Joker or that she had given Superman a thankful kiss. He was glad about the last part, but he had to inquire about the former.

Freddie tapped the screen of the PearPhone to end the recording. He diplomatically smiled and asked, "Thank you Tori, that's quite a harrowing story, but if you don't mind, I'd like to ask you a few more questions off the record—for some background."

The lovely actress gave him a cautious gaze and slowly answered, "Okay."

"You left something out what Quincy's men reported… about the Joker arriving to look for you. He was there to actually rescue you just like he did with Mister Shapiro."

Tori's breath deepened and remained quiet, trying not to give anything away as Freddie was tiptoeing to an inevitable conclusion after already pointing out earlier about the confirmation of Beck and the Joker being the same person.

"I'm guessing he would only do that if Beck and the Joker are one in the same, confirming what Superman saw. It would explain why a mad clown would attempt to help Mister Shapiro and try to save you… he's your friend."

The movie star hesitantly questioned, "This is off the record?"

Freddie assured her with a nod. "Yes it's off the record… so he did kill Mrs. Lee for Robbie then went to rescue you," he stated more as a statement than a question.

Tori leaned back in her seat and crossed her arms over her chest, remaining silent as she thought he would see through any denial. She decided to take a chance and asked, "What are you going to do?"

Freddie reached for his water and took a sip. He sat it back down and answered, "I'm going to do… nothing… this part of the interview is off the record."

"Really?"

"Yes."

Tori sat up and dropped her forearms back on the table. "Doesn't that violate your journalistic integrity?"

"Reporting anything we say at this point would violate those ethics, but if you decided to go on the record, one could easily write him and Sam as sympathetic figures in just reporting the facts. He's already getting a following after what happened with Mister Shapiro, but I'm not pushing you to do that, just mentioning the option for you."

The brunette actress thought on his suggestion then reluctantly answered, "So did John Dillinger and look what happened to him."

Freddie bowed his head and looked to the table. He avoided eye contact while he muttered, "I'm sorry… I'm sorry you're in this position."

Tori attempted to study his body language, a skill she had cultivated during her acting career, and asked, "You really are, aren't you?"

"He's your friend and finding out about that he's really a mobster isn't news to celebrate and I told you, I'm not thrilled with it either with Sam's involvement."

Tori tilted her head ever so slightly, looking over the rim of his glasses. "How do you know Melanie?"

"We go back to Smallville, my hometown. We went to school together."

"Ah… so you haven't called her to tell her about Sam?"

"No… I really don't want to tell her, but I feel I should be the one to let her know, really know and not just worry about rumors and accusations."

Tori looked at the table top and lazily trailed a fingertip over the surface. "This isn't how I pictured coming home for a vacation… watching the people I love get hurt, first Jade then Robbie and Cat then find out that my friends are really mobsters."

Freddie attempted to give a supportive smile and answered, "Jade shares your feelings… she can't believe what's happening with Sam and Mister Oliver."

The actress's eyes widened then uttered in disbelief, "Wait, Jade knows?"

The reporter regretfully nodded with his answer, "She ah… she was there when Superman confronted them when they visited yesterday to check on Mister Shapiro."

"She's known since yesterday!"

The others occupants of the cafeteria turned their attention to the actress's shout, curious to why she was being so loud.

Tori glanced around to see the attention garnered from her raised voice then leaned forward and whispered, "Jade knows?"

Freddie reluctantly answered, trying to avoid eye contact with her, "Yes."

"Why didn't she say something?"

"You want her to turn them in? We're all on the same boat. People we care about are in a lot of legal trouble and we don't know what to do. Should we be loyal to them or turn them in for their crimes?"

Tori looked down at her food and suddenly lost her appetite. She took a slow breath, feeling her stomach turning.

Freddie took the risk and reached over to lay a hand on the top of her hand.

She looked up, surprised by his gesture then by his supportive smile.

He sighed with an uplifting smile, "We're all in this together."

Tori nodded, struggling with a smile but appreciated the support. She turned her hand under his and grasped it with a quick squeeze of thanks. She reluctantly pulled her hand away and turned to her pancake and sliced up fruit, deciding on the lighter snack. She cut up and took a bite of the pancake followed by a piece of strawberry, hoping to take her mind off the situation.

She finished eating the piece of fluffy pancake and fruit, enjoying the taste for several moment then took a deep breath and forced a smile, moving on to perhaps a good piece of news in the whole affair. "Well… not everything is dark and dreary, because… I was hoping you could do something for me since I gave you an interview to make it happen."

Freddie politely grinned to the lovely actress and answered as diplomatically as possible, "I'm not a reporter that does quid pro quo."

"It's not a favor for me, but… I was wondering if you were willing to do a favor for 'The Bat'."

Freddie's eyebrows flicked over the top of the rim of his glasses and asked, "Pardon?"

Tori leaned forward and lowered her voice further to make sure they were out of earshot of anyone else then finished explaining, "Since your paper does so many stories on Superman and he appears to have a special spot for that Carly woman…"

Freddie frowned, feeling uncomfortable with her description of the situation with the colorfully dressed crime fighter.

"…I was hoping you might have some way of contacting him."

His uncomfortableness turned into confusion and asked, "Why?"

Tori dropped her voice further and asked, "The cops picked up the Bat's boomerang… bat-a-rang thing at the warehouse, but… it went 'missing' and I want to make sure she gets it back."

Freddie took a deep breath, quickly coming to a conclusion that didn't sit well with him. "It went 'missing' and you want to give it back to her?"

"Yes. I was hoping he could get it back to her for me through Superman. Like I said, since your paper has so much contact with him, I was hoping that maybe you could get a message along to him."

An intrepid reporter couldn't help but at least tip toe around a question that should have immediately been asked by any reporter worth his salt, "Should I ask you how you got such an item that should be in police possession right now?"

Tori turned an almost timid look on him and answered with an unsteady voice, "I… I found it this morning in my room, just like Robbie had all those papers about Mason found their way into his house. I guess whoever stole from Mason decided she wanted to help the Bat."

"So that original cat burglar the cops suspected was the Bat really isn't? We have someone else stalking the night?"

The actress glanced away, not wanting him to pick up her true involvement. "I guess so…"

Freddie pushed her on the issue, "But why you? Why give it to you? You're a friend of the D.A., so why didn't she think you would just turn it right back over to the police?"

Tori's lovely smile turned more awkward as she scrambled for a reasonable explanation. "I guess she… she trusted that I would be grateful to the Bat that I'd try to find a way to get it back to her…"

"Right…"

Tori struggled to maintain a smile as the nervousness threatened to overwhelm her, feeling like the reporter was seeing right through her explanation.

Freddie accepted that it looked like Tori was the burglar, but there wasn't a point in confronting her. There was nothing to gain from calling her out on it, so he decided to just act ignorant. "I think I can find a way to contact him. He seems to be shadowing me and Jade… I wouldn't be surprised if he wasn't overhearing us right now with his super-hearing."

She laughed for a second then with an upbeat voice commented, "That might be a little creepy."

"It just might, but it would be like when police are doing surveillance. We wouldn't call it that creepy."

"I suppose not… I guess I wouldn't mind a guardian angel keeping an eye out on me."

Freddie took a quick sip from his drink then commented, "Oh, he's no angel…"

"Then what would call him?"

He felt like he was put on the spot, unsure how to answer that without giving anything away. He cleared his throat and offered, "I would just say… he's a guy trying to help where he can. It would be an awful shame if someone had those abilities and didn't use them to do some good in the world…"

"I guess you're right, but it wouldn't explain what he is, how he can do those things."

Freddie nervously chuckled, trying to hide his slowly blushing face behind his glass, "I guess that'll have to be a mystery for a little while longer, like Bigfoot or the Lock Ness Monster…"

Tori slightly squinted, wondering why he was suddenly getting nervous.

He threw a few looks to her then took a considerable gulp of his drink.

The actress studied him for a few more seconds, particularly around the eyes, but let it go and continued on her brunch.

Freddie felt some relief as silence fell between them and she continued on her brunch, relaxing at the momentary peace found with such casual activity.

About twenty minutes after his interview with the lovely and well-known actress, Freddie walked Tori back to Robbie's room, allowing her to loop her arm through his arm as a gentlemanly escort.

Jade stepped out of the room to grab herself a drink, but stopped when she saw the pair walking together arm in arm. She felt the familiar ping of jealousy that she hadn't felt in years again and it was caused by the girl mostly responsible for it.

Tori released Freddie's arm and asked, "Are you going?"

Jade forced a smile and answered, "Not yet. I was just going to grab some coffee—Sikowitz didn't give me any this morning—then hang out for a bit longer then I need to head back home before he starts calling to bug me."

"You're not heading to work today? I noticed you haven't dressed for it."

The millionaire bachelorette stuffed her fingers into her jeans pockets and glanced down, assessing her attire. She looked good in her casual wear, especially in these jeans, but Tori was right about not dressed for a professional setting. She haphazardly grinned and answered, "No, I… the shoulder is still bothering me from the benefit banquet and he thinks I just need some bed rest."

Tori laughed with a nod of her head, her eyes showing relief from the burden of the last several days, "We could all use some rest. We all need a vacation… this was supposed to be my vacation."

"You certainly would know after last night… where are you staying by the way? I was going to take a stab in the dark that you were at your parents' house… though you're more than welcome to stay at my place since you know… your mom and all…"

The actress tightened her smile and bashfully nodded. "Yeah, I'm at my parents' house. Dad's barely letting me out of his sight. If he knows Gibson escaped… I'm sure he's on his way right now to pick me up." She looked past her old friend to spy the guarding officers then whispered, "Probably called them to make sure I didn't leave the hospital until he got here."

"Then why don't you give your dad the piece of mind and stay nice and safe in Robbie's room until he gets here?"

Tori pursed her lips, debating whether she should argue with the former morbid young woman, but decided against it since she was pushing her position with her wellbeing in mind. It certainly was a change since they were in high school and their rivalry.

Seeing the actress's hesitation, she declared victory in her mind and stated, "I'll see you in a minute."

"Okay," she sighed then threw a smile to Freddie then slipped back into the hospital room.

Jade looked to Freddie, trying to keep the green eye monster at bay and attempted to take a different tact as she had with Beck years ago, forgetting for a moment that they weren't actually a couple, so she didn't have a right to be jealous. She teasingly grinned at the reporter and asked, "So how did your interview go? Did she ask you for your phone number… or Superman's phone number?"

Freddie embarrassingly grinned and glanced to his sneakers.

The millionaire had been joking, but his expression told her that she had guessed correctly. Her lighthearted expression fell to one of genuine shock. "She actually asked for your phone number?"

"Actually, after giving 'The Bat' all the credit, she asked for Superman's phone number, in a way. She thought since my paper covers him so much, perhaps there was a way I could contact him."

Jade a twinge of jealousy, something she hadn't felt in a long time, especially with Tori being the source of the feeling. She tried to ignore it and snorted out a laugh, but her smile was clearly forced, "You're serious? She wanted Superman's phone number? Is she looking for a date?"

"As faltering as that would have been before last night… she just wants to contact him because she needs him to get one of the Bat's gadgets to her."

The millionaire's mild jealousy was dampened at his mention that what they shared last night had changed the situation for them and his focus was on her, however, she couldn't 'celebrate' being his focus. She turned a confused expression on him and asked, "Gadget? How does she have one of my gadgets?"

"You left one in the warehouse and the cops picked it up."

Jade felt a chill grip her heart. She had forgotten about the bat-a-rang in the confusion of the fight and escaping. They may not be able to trace back the weapon through its manufacturing, but they might have her or Sikowitz's fingerprints on it. She didn't know what possible tests could be run on it. "The cops have it?"

"Apparently not. As I said, she has it."

Her voice filled with greater confusion as she asked, "How does she have it?"

"She didn't want me to ask her that, just that the police have—had—one of your gadgets and she wanted me to get into contact with Superman so she could give it to him so she could give it to her—you." He shook his head and muttered, "These pronouns are getting confusing."

Jade grabbed one of his biceps and pulled him along to make sure they were out of earshot of any of the private security guards or police officers. Once she thought they were fairly safe to speak, she whispered, "She's the one that broke into police headquarters?"

"She says that it was just left at her house like the documents were left at Robbie's place, but… it does seem a little convenient that the person would drop it off at her home. She does have the right build for the description of the burglar."

Jade cocked an eyebrow and asked with a lick of her lips, "Did you turn on your X-ray vision to double check?"

Freddie shifted his jaw slightly and narrowed his gaze on her. He took a chance and asked, "This is your way of flirting with me, isn't it? Trying to embarrass me to keep me off guard?"

Jade licked her top teeth and asked, "Is that an admission?"

"Of course not. Is responding with a question an admission that you're flirting with me?"

She loudly sighed with a grin on her face, letting have that win for now. She glanced away and regretfully commented, "So Tori may be a burglar… that's just great as if things couldn't get worse…"

The reporter commented with a supportive tone, "If the only thing she's done is try to get dirt on Mister Thornesmith and make sure the police don't learn anything from your gadget about your identity, I'm not seeing how this is a bad thing."

"Really? You don't see the problem of her risking her life stealing from the mob? Or breaking into the police department?"

Freddie blinked and tightened his smile, giving her a look that question whether she had just realized what she had spoken.

Jade took a moment to analyze his glance then closed her eyes and sighed, realizing how she walked right into a verbal trap. The word 'hypocrisy' flashed in her head like the lights of downtown Gotham. "I stepped into that, didn't I?"

"You could say that. We're not in a position to really judge someone on vigilantism."

"Did you tell her that you think she's this… cat burglar?"

"No, I didn't see a point in accusing her. I figured what was the point? She wants to cover for you, so why not just leave it at that?"

Jade closed her eyes and shook her head, not sure how to feel that Tori was risking so much for her without realizing it was for her. She didn't mean for her activities to put those she cared about in danger. She tried to mentally set that aside for the moment and asked, "What about my bat-a-rang? What did you tell her you were going to do?"

Freddie knotted his brow behind the rim of his glasses and asked, "You really call it that?"

Jade cocked her head to the side and licked the inside of her bottom lip, giving him an annoyed gaze. She practically hissed out, "It's a bat theme…"

The handsome reporter just smiled, trying to disarm her defensive stance. "Right, I told her that I would find a way to contact Superman so he could get it back to you. I'll fly by her place this afternoon, hopefully when her dad isn't there so that I can actually pick it up without him finding out what happened."

Jade looked stoic for a moment then asked, "And she believed that you could do that? She didn't recognize you?"

He slightly cocked his head and bashfully answered, "I didn't pick up on anything that made me think she figured it out."

The young woman questioned in a tone that showed she found one aspect of the situation amusing, "It really is the glasses isn't it? You stand right in front of her as Superman then as you and she doesn't see it? No one sees it?"

Freddie returned with a smirk. "I guess, but it doesn't explain you."

She cocked her once pierced eyebrow and asked, "Me?"

"You saw through the glasses…"

"I've always been far more observant of my surroundings and…" She took a step forward to him, further invading his personal space and reaching up to make sure his unbutton collar was straight.

Freddie grinned, flicking his eyes to look down at her lips then back up to her eyes, catching a look of playful desire in them that he suspected his eyes equally showed. They slowly drifted to one another, perhaps picking up from a kiss that was interrupted back at her home despite being in public, but he suddenly paused and smile faded.

Jade's hint of a smile disappeared and was replaced by slightly pursing lips, feeling a flush of embarrassment that she had misread the moment—a moment she hadn't consciously sought, but one that naturally blossomed from a moment that she thought may have said something about the potential of them. She followed his eyes that looked past her shoulder and towards Robbie's hospital room. She looked over her shoulder and asked with a knotted brow, "What?"

"Chizz," he swore and gently took her by the hand to pull her along towards Robbie's room.

The lovely woman didn't question the irony as she had done it the same act with Tori in high school and simply let him lead her along.

The pair of secret crime fighters entered the room to see the three occupants' eyes figuratively glued to the scene unfolding on the television screen of an aerial view of a Gotham street where a several police cars and patty wagon were trapped at each end by a blocking car and being fired upon from the provided cover.

The news reporter in the helicopter that apparently had followed the police convoy worriedly explained to the audience, "Moments ago of what appeared to be a simple stalled car on the street has turned into an ambush of the police taking Shawn Quincy to the county jail after being denied bail earlier this morning. It's becoming a complete warzone down there as the attackers clearly have the upper hand with automatic weapons."

The camera zoomed in at the front of the line where the criminals were pouring on fire against the lead vehicle. Tori instantly recognized her father's car then caught a glimpse of him ducking behind the right fender and attempting to shoot back at automatic fire.

"DAD!" his uselessly shouted as she watched the scene play out.

Everyone looked stunned at the scene at watching the detective, his partner and several other officers fight for their lives. Jade was the first to snap out of her stunned disposition and looked to Freddie. She grabbed his upper arm to get his attention and mouthed, "Go."

Freddie took a second to realize what she meant then nodded his head. He disappeared from the room without the others noticing.

Author's Note: A lot happened in this chapter with the back and forth of emotions and now Tori's dad is in trouble… wait to see what happens next. Thanks for reading. Yes, Judge Newman is none other than the great Henry 'The Fonz' Winkler from his appearance in Merry Christmas, Drake & Josh. We all wish we could be that cool.