Chapter 46: Stabbed In The Heart.

Authors Note: Thank you thank you thank you all! 300 reviews holy crap thank you all. Reviewers, followers and anonymous reviewers and not to mention the kind folk who have given me their oc's that made this story good. I love you all and I hope you stick around for future stories. Also give stories like Rise of the Reaper written by Jedimasterchris The red crosshairs written by the illusiveman and Flames beginning by Daniel wilks a read they are all good stories and deserve the same recognition as mine. So let's get on with the story shall we?

Disclaimer: I do not own Batman.

"Are you sure we can trust her?" Whisper asked while kicking an empty can into the darkness. They had been waiting in an alley way for a half an hour since Ronin made a call to his contact.

"Of course," Ronin defended. "Emily took up a Private investigator job a few years ago. She's a pro, if there is anyone I can rely on it's her."

"How did you meet her anyways?" Whisper asked.

"Well, my grandfather did send me to high school." Ronin started. "While in high school I was always keeping to myself. I went in did my work and went home. Then one day I saw a girl who was just sitting by herself. She had the stare of someone who just wanted a friend so…I looked after her. We hung out and looked after one another."

"I thought you went out with Abigail?" Whisper asked.

"He did, but we were still good friends." A new voice said.

The two looked to see a slender Japanese woman with long black hair and green eyes. She wore a pair of jeans and a long black coat with red and black sneakers. Ronin walked towards her and she grinned as she looked him up and down.

"Damn, you haven't changed a bit." She chuckled. She then caught sight of Whisper and nodded over to her. "Friend of yours?"

"Something like that." Ronin said. He then tossed the blade to Emily who caught the handle and examined the blade. She eyed it for a second and then raised an eyebrow and let out a giggle. "You know who this belonged to?"

"Yup, Lotus." She snickered. "She's been on my list for three years."

"You know just by her knife?" Whisper asked.

"Yes," She said bitterly at Whisper. Whisper could sense some tension in her voice as she continued talking to Ronin. "This white lotus tide at the end is her calling card. She's been an assassin for lord knows how long and this knife is her signature weapon."

"So, that means that this blade is the same one that killed my grandfather and…" Ronin's head fell in shame.

He remembered how he failed his grandfather and the only woman he ever loved. He swore revenge no matter what and now fate provided him the chance to kill her. He then felt a hand on his shoulder. He looked up and saw Emily with a small smile on her face.

"What happened to you that day Emily?" Ronin asked. "Why did you just disappear?"

"I…I had a personal issue to deal with." She admitted sadly. "I'm sorry, but if you want we could."

She was cut off when a loud scream echoed throughout the alley. The three of them looked behind themselves to see a young woman running down the street holding her books to her chest. Ronin recognized the girl to be Keilynn Suzaki who was being pursued by five thugs.

"Kei." Ronin whispered as he and Whisper ran after her.

"Who the hell is Kei?" Emily muttered. In a fit of rage she clenched the bladed end of the knife with her left hand, her palm was split open and blood slowly dripped on the ground.

The thugs eventually cornered Kei as she continued to hold her books close to her. The thugs surrounded her each chuckling darkly while slowly approaching her.

"Hey girlie." One of them snickered. "Why don't you come hang out with us, we'll play real nice."

"Get away from me!" She snapped causing the thugs to chuckle again.

"She's got some fire in her boys." The lead thug said as he pulled out a butterfly knife. "I love a girl with a little spark."

He was then within three feet of her holding the knife inches from her face. Before the tip of the blade could touch her cheek Kei swiped her hand up and landed a punch to his wind pipe. The man let out a choked gasp and Kei then fell down to her feet and swiped the man legs knocking him down on the ground.

The other thugs laughed at their friend's misfortune not noticing two dark figures' sprinting up behind them. Ronin quickly dispatched one thug with a sleeper while Whisper smashed the butt of her gun on the back of another head. The two remaining thugs noticed this and went to pull out their guns but were to slow. Whisper aimed her desert eagle at one and Ronin aimed his wrist launcher at the other. Whisper fired a round into one guys shoulder and Ronin fired a stun dart into the other immobilizing both of them.

"Are you okay?" Ronin asked as he quickly rushed up to her.

"Yes, thank you." Kei said as she dusted herself off. "I'm…"

"Keilynn Suzaki." Ronin finished. "You're a college student working as a teacher's aide."

"Yes, how did, of course you're a Shadow Warrior." She said in admiration. "You know everything."

"A fan, that's new." Whisper said.

"She works at my school we already know her, dumbass." Sarah muttered.

"Shut up." Whisper snapped. "Look, let's just get the girl home and get back to H.Q."

"Fine, look where do you live?" He asked her.

She was ready to answer when Whisper tackled both of them to the ground. Ronin was ready to snap at her when he saw two throwing knives sticking in the wall where they were just standing. Whisper helped Ronin and Kei up as a figure in white leaped down in front of them.

"Kei, I want you to run and don't look back." Ronin muttered as he pushed her away. Lotus's eyes never left her while watching her leave. She then turned back to Ronin and glared at him.

"You know, I heard you were madly in love with a girl when you were young." Lotus snapped. "I never thought you would just go from one whore to another."

"You're dead!" Whisper snapped.

She then charged at Lotus with her fist raised and sent a punch to her face. Lotus easily dodged it and grabbed her wrist, flipping her over her shoulder. Ronin quickly stepped in and pulled out his scaler's while she drew her kunai's. The two landed blow after blow with their small weapons, both equally matched in speed and cunning.

Ronin eventually broke away when Whisper tackled Lotus to the ground. Whisper landed a punch to her face before Lotus kicked her off. Whisper slid over to Ronin who raised his scalers in defense. Ronin became less tense when he heard her sobbing under her mask. He had to know what was up with her so he asked.

"What is your problem with me?" He asked. "Why do you attack me?"

"Let's see," She said while clasping her hands together. "It all started when I was a girl. I hated everyone because everyone hated me. No friends and no future and bums for parents. Then one day a kind young man walked up to me and offered me friendship." Ronin's eyes widened under his mask as she continued her story. "He was the only man I ever loved the only person who ever showed me any sort of affection…And then one day when I was ready to tell him I loved him…he was with another woman."

"Emily…?" Ronin whispered.

"You gave me a white lotus when you first met me." She whimpered. "Tell me did you give her the same kind of flower Max!" Ronin was starting to lose it. He gripped his blade's handles until his knuckles were white.

Kei who was now slumped in a corner was now stunned at what she heard. She hesitantly looked over at Ronin with a confused glare. 'Could he really be that security guard from yesterday?' She thought.

"You murdered her," Ronin snarled. "You murdered the only woman I ever loved. You slit her throat and bled her dry. You killed the only person I ever loved, why?"

Lotus chuckled under mask and lowered her hood and mask to reveal her face. Emily Sung Max's best friend and his betrayer.

"It tore me apart when I saw you and her together." She said in a shaky voice. "So happy and carefree, but what did I have, who would want me? You, you were the only person I wanted, but I couldn't get you. So, before I knew it I was standing over poor Abby's lifeless body."

"What about the other assassins that were at the house?" He asked.

"Those men were sent to kill your grandfather for breaking his oath to Ra's Al Ghul." Lotus chuckled. "That's who trained me and that's where I have been. Talia found me and has trained me to be an elite assassin and Ras can do the same for you if you let him."

Just then Lotus threw a small wooden handle carving knife at Ronin, but he caught it with very little trouble and looked up to see she was gone.

"Max I do love you, but I can't live without you." Lotus said. Ronin and Whisper looked up to see er perched on a rooftop like a gargoyle. "Just so you know Double J has The Question and some boy um…Zack Andrews hostage at the old Kinsley building. See, I can be useful to you Ronin." And with that she disappeared into the night.

"Dammit!" Whisper shouted. "This shit is getting more screwed up every minute!"

"Relax, let's get back to H.Q and then we'll figure out our next move." Ronin said. He was about to leave when he suddenly realized something. "Kei!"

"Is it true?" She asked. She was now standing on her feet with her books held close to her chest. "You are really Max under that mask?"

"Yeah…"

"That is so cool!" She squealed. Both warriors' eyes went wide under their mask as she ran up to him. "The man I have a crush on is my favorite warrior Ronin."

"Um…You have a crush on me?" Ronin asked sheepishly while rubbing the back of his head.

"Yeah, the way you were standing all quiet and mysterious." She giggled. "I thought you were…cute."

Ronin still stood there trying to think of what to say. His heart was beating faster than war drums as she continued to stare at him with her beautiful brown eyes. Ronin was broken from his thoughts when Whisper let out a loud huff and pushed past him. She stood face to face with Kei, even if Whisper was a couple of feet smaller than her and pointed her gloved hand in her face.

"When someone asks you about Ronin…" Whisper was cut off when Kei raised her hand up in front of her face.

"Not a soul." She swore.

(Three Hours Earlier)

The Question was making his way to Double J's office being as sneaky as he could. He knew Double J was breaking her back to find Sarah, but the fool didn't realize that Sarah was in fact looking for her. The Question knew where Double J lived now all there was left to do was to do was to get a layout of the building and figure out a form off attack.

Double J didn't just hire random thugs off the street. She handpicked them, trained them and made sure they were loyal to her. Whether it was fear or love she had their respect and they would never turn on her.

The Question finally made it to the top floor of her building. He stepped out of the stairwell he was using to get to her office and peeked around the corner to see two guards standing in front of the doors. He had to think of a way to get in without setting off an alarm. He leaned back against the wall when his elbow his something. He looked over his shoulder to see a fire extinguisher and a light bulb went off in his head.

He took the extinguisher and then grabbed the door he came in through and slammed it. The guards drew their guns and slowly walked down the hall. Question peaked around the corner and waited a little longer for them to get closer. When they were close enough Question pointed the nozzle of the extinguisher out and sprayed them. When he heard their screams of pain he quickly ran around the corner and smashed the bottom of the extinguisher in their faces knocking them out cold.

Once they were out he took a keycard out of one of the guard's pockets and unlocked the door to Double J's office.

Her office was all black with a black desk and a decorative knife on the front of it. There were T.V's all over one wall some with camera footage and the rest with the news channels. There was also a mini fridge next to her desk. Question opened it and saw all the blood packs that were stolen earlier this week.

"Why would the deadliest criminal in the entire world want blood packs?" He muttered. "That's the question."

He then noticed a silver laptop on her desk and decided to go poking around. It needed a password and it read 'Who is the Greek Goddess of Wrath?' The Question typed in LYSSA.

The laptop opened up and Question helped himself to whatever he could find. He found hit lists, takeover plans and files on Sarah. He grimaced at the thought of that monster going after his friend his soldier. His daughter he never had. But then he saw something that really caught his eyes. It was the reason why she stole blood packs and was rumored to be feared.

When she was forty five she developed lung cancer from being a chain smoker. Not wanting to die at an early age she hired the best doctors money could buy. It took some time but they were able to synthesize a cure, but it had some side effects. The cure mixed with the cancer and attached itself to her heart and continues to pump into her blood stream. Unless she consumes fresh blood every day the cancer will drain her body of energy like it usually does and her body will slowly waste away until she dies.

When she does consume fresh blood it revitalizes her muscle tissue, her brain and her lungs pretty much trapping her in a never ending cycle of life and death. It all made sense now. In the criminal underworld she was known for being a vampire for consuming the blood of her victims. She even filed her teeth so they would look like fangs, but now it all made sense. She wasn't a ghost story vampire. She couldn't turn into a bat or be killed with crosses, holy water and garlic. She's just an abomination trapped in an endless cycle between life and death.

"I have to get this to Whisper." He said to himself.

"Will you now?"

Question looked up to see a few guards with guns aimed at him.

"You think you can just come in and take our shit, you're wrong." The guard snapped.

Question said nothing as he quickly grabbed the knife off the desk and unsheathed it. He threw it into the one thugs shoulder and then while he was screaming in pain Question leaped over the desk and smacked the gun out of the second thugs hand and delivered a right hook to his jaw and knocked him out cold.

He was ready to leave when he heard a gun click. Before he could dodge a shot was fired and he went down clenching his left arm. He looked up to see Double J holding a snub nosed mustang in her right and Zack Andrews in her left. He was handcuffed and looked beaten as she threw him on the ground next to him.

"Sorry, I was out buying bait." Double J snickered. She swung her boot into Zack's ribs. He let out a groan as she looked down at Question. "So, you know all about me do you? My age my cancer and my craving for blood. Yes, it's all true. I'm not a true vampire, but I do need blood to survive."

"Jackie Johnson, the one who murdered my pupil's parents." Question grunted. "Why take the kid?"

"He's bait, all I need are some pictures and her cute ass will be here in less than an hour." Jackie giggled while pulling out a magazine. "Spring catalog, she really loves posing in bikinis." She flipped the pages to where Sarah was posing in a yellow and striped bikini smiling bright. "I tell you her guardian Alexandra really doesn't look out for this girl. Who knows how many perverts are looking at her right now."

"I'm looking at one right now." Zack groaned.

"Cute," She said kicking him again before turning back to Question. "Where is she, my men have been to her friend's house, this kid's house and the penthouse. No one knows where she is, but you do so talk. Where is she?" The Question let out a grunt as he sat up and looked at her through his mask.

"That is the Question." He said in a low voice. Jackie wasn't buying it and smacked him in the face. Question let out a growl and snapped his head into her line of sight. "Alright, I'll tell you where she is. She is out there looking for you as well." Jackie raised an eyebrow as he continued. "She wants you dead as well for killing her parents. I should know I trained her. Trust me Jackie, she will find you and she will kill you." Question then clicked a button on his belt when Jackie looked away.

"Well, I'll be waiting with bells on then." She said as she slipped off her dress and moved over to her closet. She dressed in her army uniform and pulled out her knife from her guards shoulder and cleaned the blood off with his tie. "Time to finish what I started anyways."

(Now)

Back at the penthouse, Shadow and the team was just filled in on what Ronin and Whisper had learned. No one knew how to react when Ronin told them that the woman who killed Falcone and Ronin's soul mate was his best friend. Everyone was at a loss of words before Shadow decided to say something.

"Hey man, I'm sorry truly." Shadow said.

"Forget it." Ronin said bitterly as he stood up from his chair. "The priority is Double J and the hostages she's taken."

"Right, Thanatos." Shadow ordered. Thanatos displayed a holographic image of the former Kinsley building while Shadow pointed out weak points and battle strategies. "Okay, we've been down this road before so let's just take it slow. From what we've gathered on the street cameras her men have been outfitted in body armor and high caliber weapons."

"But we don't want to waste time climbing up the building do we?" Reaper asked.

"No, I figure now is as any good time to test out the crows." Shadow said. Everyone gave him a confused look.

"The crows?" Gauntlet asked confused.

"Yup, the new stealth drones Reaper and I have been working on." Shadow said. "We'll use them to take out the guards that are on the twentieth floor and work our way up from there. Hitgirl you provide cover from the top of the bank, keep any guards from entering the building."

"You got it." Hitgirl said checking her guns.

"Alright, Red you'll keep a look out on the Raven while we deal with Double J." Shadow said.

"You got it." Red said.

"Okay, the rest we'll take out any more men that get in our way and fight our way to Double J." Shadow stated. "Any questions?"

"Yeah, while we're going to war on Double J what's stopping her from killing Question and Zack?" Whisper asked.

"Because if things go south she'll need leverage to keep us from killing her." Shadow said. "Thanks to the tracker he's wearing we've pinpoint his location at the top floor of the building. As long as he wears that we can find him." This calmed Whisper down a bit and she nodded.

"Okay, let's get going then." She said. Everyone went to get armed and ready when Ronin stopped her. "What gives?"

"I am sorry, but I am going to have to slip away when this all starts." He said with shame. Whisper glared at him and led him to a more private area.

"Why, what's going on?" She asked.

"The knife handle was fragile. So I broke it open and it contained a note on her exact location." He said. "I am going to go alone."

"Why, wouldn't you want your friends and team with you to help you claim revenge?" She asked.

"No, can't have anyone of you with me." Ronin said in a monotone voice.

"Is this about Abigail and how Emily murdered her?" Whisper asked.

"Yes, you see I loved Abigail with a passion I never felt before and Emily she took her away due to some petty jealousy. I can't forgive her for that." Ronin said. The wheels started going in Whisper's head as she continued.

"You're not going to give her a warrior's death are you?" Whisper asked already knowing the answer.

"No, I am going to find her and kill her in the most violent way possible." Ronin whispered in a darkened tone.