White Rabbit
Starling would be lying if she said that the current information in front of her didn't exactly bother her. On the computer screen in The Cage, the new base Batman had gotten Starling and her father for his birthday, was a list of no less than 12 missing children. 12 missing children had gone missing in the United States. This wasn't anything unusual, as children went missing daily, but something about this case stuck out to Starling. Apparently not only to Starling, She had found the case on Batman's computer. She didn't mean to snoop, but she had been waiting on Robin to get ready for patrol, and lately they had been getting really crappy cases...Not that they needed more excitement especially after the whole Two-Face incident four months back. So, she did a little digging. Batman was gone, and no one was there to tell her not to go digging. She had been surprised when the third case file she found was one on 12 missing children, none of which were from or living currently in Gotham, but for some reason it held some importance. It may have to do with the odd circumstances surrounding the children's disappearances. No, Starling knew that's exactly why Batman had taken interest in it, and those details haunted her.
The facts surrounding were vague to say the least. It seemed each child came from a different city, and each child was not affiliated with the other in any aspects. Each child was of different race, and background. Each child had different activities. The only thing tying these cases together was the fact that each child was taken in the span of one work week, 5 days, and each child went missing between the times five p.m. and Eight p.m. Also there were witness around at the time of each child's vanishment. Saying the child mysteriously vanished out of thin air. Impossible...Technically. Starling knew that some villain or someone out there must have the power of teleportation in order to get to so many places in such a short amount of time. Batman had already figured that or else there would be a list of people who had the time, money, and motive, and airplane records who would have done this. The file did actually have a list with those with Teleporting as a power all of those names were crossed out. One name peeked Starling's interest, Super-boy Prime, whoever the heck that was. Starling moved on that meant that it was someone new doing this someone not known to the League or Batman.
Still, the case rang figurative bells in Starling's head. The whole thing seemed familiar to her. The disappearing was just like when dealing with The Collector, but Starling knew that that couldn't be it. It was something else. The planning, the details, all seemed very familiar as if she had dealt with it before. And when she thought about it, something like a memory showed up in her mind's eye. A flash, but nothing helpful at all.
"Where did you get that?" Robin said, scaring Starling with his quiet entrance into The Cage.
After calming herself, Starling rolled her eyes at the teenager. "Where do you think? The Bat-computer. When I was waiting for you yesterday, I took the liberty of going through Batman's recent case files." She answered. "Have you seen this one?" She turned towards him. Most likely he had, but if he did why didn't he say anything?
"The twelve missing kids? Yes, I saw it. I don't know why you and Batman find this case so interesting. More kids go missing a day, but a measly 12 peeks both of your interest." That explained why he hadn't told her.
"I want to look into it." Starling said turning back to her computer.
Robin frowned at her, "With Nightwing, Oracle, and Red Robin out of town. Not to mention, My father is actually in Gotham this week. Batman won't give us this case. Not after, the Two-Face ordeal. Not with the fact, that we aren't on the best of terms right now."
"Still?" Starling asked. It's been almost a year since Batman and Robin started fighting. They never let it get in between their work so no one except Nightwing really took notice of it... Well, no one who cared enough anyway.
"Yeah..." Robin's gaze cut away from Starling. "It's not that big of a deal." He said. Starling rolled her eyes.
"Oh yeah, I'm so convinced. You're like five seconds away from a having such a major father complex that I should just call you Elektra. It totally doesn't bother you that your father who you've looked up to all of your life, and hope to be just like one day isn't really paying you any mind, because everyone just loves when a parent is mad at them, especially one who holds grudges longer than Huntress. Yeah, it's not a big deal at all." Starling said sarcastically
Robin glared at Starling, not that she was surprised. "Tt. No one asked you, Starling."
"Whatever... So, are you going to do everything that daddy tells you, or are you in?" Starling asked.
"If we miss Patrol, we'll be in more trouble than taking this case without permission." Robin said finally...Something about the case made both Starling and Batman check it twice. That meant something was up with it. He was a little curious to see what made them look at this case so thoroughly.
"Jason owes me for picking up his slack lately. He'll cover for us. It'll take Batman at least 8 hours figure out we're gone, but only 5 and a half hours to get to Oregon." Starling said.
"He can just see what plane we charted and follow us from there." Robin pointed out. Starling snorted.
"You act like Barbara never trained me. The first thing she taught me was to disappear. Online, that's almost impossible, but since all of the files I used are on a flash drive. Batman won't know what case we're on to stop us."
"That didn't answer my question."
"I'm getting to that. Gosh, can't I have a minute to monologue?" She told him, "I never planned on taking one of our planes, or paying for a commercial flight in the first place, you know?"
Robin stared at her surprised, "You can hack into the airlines database and get us tickets?"
"From here without Batman or Oracle knowing? Heck, no. From the airport? It'll be easy from one of their computers. The one thing that'll will be hard though-"
"Is not getting spotted on the security cameras." Robin finished for her.
Starling smirked at him, "I think that's more your expertise then mine. You're better at stealth then I ever could be."
"Got that right. I can get you in easy. But why Oregon? Star City is in Northern California." Robin thought for a minute, "To throw off Batman. Smart, it's the closest airport not in the state. What is it a five-six hour bus ride from there?"
"Four and half." Starling corrected. "We'll be in Star City by the time he even realizes we're gone. Our plane ride is in 2 hours. I'll stop by Jason's place tell him the bare minimum, and meet you in the airport in civvies in 20."
"Got it. Try not to get us caught." He chuckled on his way out.
"Please." Starling groaned. "Get going before you're late."
They were both on time, hair in hats, sunglasses on not that it'll do much to through off Batman's computer. Getting in turned out to be less than an issue then they both previously thought, Damian easily got into the Airliner's computer data base behind one of the consoles without being seen, from there Mary switched over some tickets from a very lovely couple and put it under some false names, Carmen and Antonio Arroyo. Less then an hour and a half later, The plane was taking off, and Mary breathed a little bit easier.
Bruce was going to be so pissed when he found them, but Mary had to know what was going on in this case.
Mary slept through most of the flight on Damian's shoulder, something he gripped about when they landed. He apparently decided to stay awake the whole plane ride as if he was expecting the Bat-plane to fly up right next to their plane at any moment. Mary finally talked him into sleeping they bus ride down to San Francisco. He did, and was so much more pleasant when they had finally gotten to San Francisco.
Just as they stepped off the bus, Damian's phone rang. Damian and Mary stared at each other. It didn't take a genius to figure out who it was. It was Bruce, specifically a very pissed off Bruce who wanted to know why their phones had been rerouted to make it look like they were in Gotham when they were clearly not. That was not a conversation either of them wanted to have. After a silent, mental argument over it they both agreed to let the call ring. Bruce was sneaky should they actually talk to him, he might make it their quicker. Though it would appease his anger to talk to him, they still needed more time. They wasted a total of 8 and a half hours getting to San Francisco, now they actually had work to do.
"So what now?" Damian asked.
"The last victim's house, She was the eldest out of the bunch, one of the few to be actually 18." Mary told him. "She lives downtown in an apartment. I have the address."
"So what? We take a cab." Damian sounded horrified at the idea.
"Yeah, rich boy, a cab. Don't worry, like any common thug can actually kidnap us. Let's go!" Mary pulled Damian out of the bus station and hailed a taxi. It was a nice older gentlemen.
"Where are you two young kids going by yourself? You all live in Star?" He asked when they gotten inside.
"It's break for me and my brother here." Mary said in a good, but strong Jersey accent. "We're from the Jersey Shore. We're going to see our Aunt, she's been begging us to come over to the west coast." Damian glared at her. He was doing a lot of that lately, but it was the best plan. Accents made people look less at physical appearance. They would only be remembered by their thick accents.
"Right." Damian replied with the same accent. He looked at the cab driver's eyes in the mirror. The man smiled at him before turning his eyes back on to the road giving Damian a mirror's glance at Mary. He swore loudly at what he saw.
"What do you mean you let them go?" Batman growled to the Red Hood. Red Hood yawned, he knew the dark knight far too well to be scared by the tactics used on the common criminal. "Well, Jason?"
"Like I could tell them no. It would be fucking hypocritical of me. I did far worse when I was Robin. "
"So you let them go on an unknown case alone without supervision? What if something happens to them?"
Red Hood blinked up at Batman, "You know, You sure do pick and choose when you want to be worried. You'll put a nine year old Dick against the likes of Joker and Two-Face, but sending not one but two well trained fighters on a case is foreign to you. I think it has to do with the fact that you're not actually in control of this situation. Relax, B-Man."
Batman glared at Red Hood, "Jason, We don't know who their up against. For all we know it could be something too dangerous for the both of them to handle."
Hood snorted, "Then you underestimate them. I trained Starling myself, and I know that she can handle herself for the most part. She's not just some kid with a dream and a Batarang like I was. And Robin, The boy is a natural born fighter. I trust Mary more with him then I do you." Red Hood paused, "Because should their lives become a factor, I know that Damian won't hesitate to do what's necessary in order to make it home alive with Mary in tow."
Batman's eyes narrowed at him, "He doesn't kill anymore. I taught him not to kill."
"Ha! You taught me that, too. Look what happened. You see me and the little demon got a lot in common. There's a reason we stopped killing, Bruce. It's out of respect for you that we now spare the lives of our enemies." Jason said. "So yes, we don't kill. You taught us not to kill, but if there was no other way out."
"There's always a way out!" He argued.
"That depends, and you know it. You have the blood of so many of your friends on your hands because you wouldn't kill. Now, I don't begrudge you for that, and I respect that you decide not to kill your enemies, but let me quote Wonder Woman when I saw, there's a reason I don't have long term enemies like you and Superman. Because I don't threats carry out to that point. Damian's the same way, you may not see it now, but then again. I always saw things in a different light than you."
"You finished preaching?" Batman asked.
"For now." Red Hood moved pulled out his phone from his pocket. "Now back to the topic at hand. Damian and Mary took off somewhere, she wouldn't tell me where."
"And you were supposed to cover for them." Batman finished.
"Yes and No. They expect me to cover for them. She just told me to take their patrol route for the night. Hence, why I'm answering your questions instead of making myself scarce."
"You just let her go?"
"Yes. I mean, what did you want me to do? Keep her here? Tell her to go home, where there is no supervision? Tell her to leave it alone? I don't know if you've realized yet Bruce, but when you tell the young ones no, they tend to do the opposite. Dick did it. I did it on more than one occasion. Babs did it. Even the holier-than-thou children Tim and Cassandra have done it. So how bout for once we learn from our mistakes, and try a different tactic. We watch from afar, and only intervene when necessary."
Batman looked at Red Hood surprised. "You-!"
"You didn't actually think I let Mary go anywhere without us knowing. I may be crazy, but I'm not stupid. " Red Hood tossed his phone to Batman who caught it with ease, "Now let's see where those kids are headed."
"Fucking Shit! Fuck!" Damian cursed.
"What? What?!" Mary panicked.
"You've been fucking tagged!" Damian pulled the fabric of Mary's leather Jacket. "How the hell did you get tagged!?"
"Tagged?" Mary echoed, then she thought about it. "Jason..." She hissed. "Jason freaking tagged me. I thought he was cool!"
Damian rolled his eyes, "Well, now you know better." He turned to the driver, he already knew how to fix this mess. He tapped the man on his shoulder discreetly placing the tracker on the man. "We're going to give 500 dollars to keep your mouth shut about seeing us." The man looked in the review mirror slightly scared.
"I don't want any trouble..."
"There won't be." Damian assured him. "The people I don't want finding us are good people. When you see them you'll trust them. Just don't tell them anything more than the truth."
"and what's the truth?" The man asked smartly.
Damian smirked, "That we payed you to go to San Jose." Damian pulled out the money, more than 500 dollars. "There's another 500 in it for you to stay in San Jose at least two days."
"You've got yourself a deal, kid. I don't want to know what's going on, but a thousand dollars to stay in San Jose works for me."
"Also," Mary decided to add. "Don't stay in a place more than 4 hours. If you can do that I'll have more money wired to your account for your troubles Mr..." Mary looked at the name on the dashboard, "Mr. Carson."
Mr. Carson nodded, "Okay, so where do you want me to drop you kids off?"
"Don't worry about us." Damian answered quickly.
Mary nodded, "No matter what happens, , I'm asking you not to stop the car. You have to keep driving." She told him
"Got it." He said understanding.
"Mary." Damian called. The place that would be safest to jump out was coming up. Mary could see it as she addressed the cab driver.
"You've been so much help already. Just remember, the only thing you tell him is that we paid you to go to San Jose. Just that nothing more." He nodded again. "Great. We'll be seeing you now . If you follow our directions, I promise your bank account is going to look very pleasing very soon." Mary unbuckled her seatbelt then rolled down the window. "Goodbye, Mr. Carson." Next thing the cab driver knew the girl who had to be no older then twelve jumped out of his car window while he was going at least 55 mph. The boy followed not two seconds after. It took all of his will power not to slam on his breaks and check on those kids, but he needed the money, and he had to follow their directions. He checked in his review mirror for them. The girl was already standing up, brushing the gravel off her outfit, and helping the boy stand up. There wasn't a scratch on either of them. Mr. Carson let out a breathe he didn't realize he was holding. He began to wonder what those kids were into. After looking in the back seat and seeing the 1000 dollars sitting there, Mr. Carson realized, it wasn't any of his business.
"Now how are we going to get to Star City" Damian asked. They were still in San Francisco and were a bit aways from Star.
Mary sighed, "I didn't want to, but I guess I'm going to have to call in a favor. " Mary said. She paused remembering they couldn't use their phones. "Come on, I think I saw a dinner or something about 10 minutes back." Mary said patting Damian on the shoulder, and they walked back down going back closer to San Francisco and getting further away from Star.
They eventually made it to the restaurant, which was some old diner looking place with an older woman running the counter.
"What can I do for you, sweeties?" She asked kindly as they walked in.
Mary released a fake sigh of relief. "Oh thank god!" She said running up to the counter. "My dad's car broke down up the road, and our phone's are out of charge. You wouldn't happen to have a phone I could use?"
"Oh, you poor dears!" She cooed. "Such beautiful children! Don't worry, here use my cell." She reached into the pocket of her apron and handed it to Mary.
"Thank you so much." Mary gave her a grateful look. Mary quickly dialed the number. It only rang once before a confused voice picked up.
"Um..Hello?"
"It's Mary." She said quickly. The girl on the other line sighed in relief.
"Oh crap. You scared me. I didn't know who was calling me. What's up?"
"I need you to pick us up." Mary said.
"Sorry, but I don't live in Gotham. And us whose with you?" She asked.
"Just me and my brother, Damian."
"Ewww, Damian's not your brother... Are their people around? Are you speaking in code? That fucking sucks, bird-girl."
"Yes." Mary ground out slightly annoyed.
"Okay, I'll come and get you. I'll get my dad, and-"
"No." Mary said quickly trying not to yell. "Just come. You don't need to stop anywhere."
"Ohhh, now I'm curious. You're up to something, Mary Grayson, and I want in. Where are you?"
"Leanna's dinner in San Francisco."
"Got it. Be there in 20 minutes, just hang tight!" And she hung up. Mary sighed, and handed the phone back to the waitress, who disappeared into the kitchen. Mary really didn't feel like dealing with her right now.
"She'll be here in 20, Damian." Mary told her partner.
"May I ask whose's coming to get us?" He asked eye brows raised looking so much like his father. Mary shook her head. He wasn't going to like this.
"You aren't going to like this..."She stated.
Damian gave her a leveled look, "Who's coming?"
"Lian Harper." Mary answered with a squeak.
Damian paused, "Please tell me you're joking." His face serious... Well, more serious then it usually was, and that scared Mary a little.
"You can't be seriously thinking about asking her for a ride! Why didn't you just call a cab!" Damian hissed an angry whisper at her.
"Oh yeah! So, I can just alert Bruce to where ever the hell we're going. When he finds that cabbie, he'll be checking all of them, and the subway! Don't yell at me for my choice! Lian is my friend." Mary hissed back.
Damian frowned at Mary, "Lian Harper, is untrained and dangerous."
"Lian Harper, has as much training as me. She only lacks the experience. It's not her fault her dad refuses to let her be hero." Mary pointed out. Damian though was right in his wariness of Lian Harper.
Lian Harper was Damian's age. She had been trained by Red Arrow, now known as Arsenal, Black Canary, and Green Arrow. Sadly, Lian Harper was not a hero. Mary thought to herself.
"She's at least trustworthy. I know you have issues with her after last year-"
"Hell Yeah, I have issues! She knocked you out and pretended to be Starling! How the fuck is she trustworthy?" Mary sighed. Damian's good opinion once lost is lost forever, unless you impress him... Maybe not even if you're Lian.
"Yeah, Damian, and I forgave her for that. We're good friends now." Mary insisted, "And like I said, she is trustworthy."
"Fine. I'd like to see how her 13 year old self gives us a ride." Damian retorted. Mary paled.
Crap, she hadn't thought about that.
To no one's real surprise Lian did not show up alone, next to her was Lian's long time babysitter, Mia Dearden.
Mary sighed. She had read Mia's file, Mary supposed she wouldn't snitch, but then again more people made it easier for Batman to find them, and the easier it was the faster it would be.
"I don't suppose you would give us a ride then go home and pretend you never saw us?" Mary asked.
Mia snorted, "Hell no. Get in the car. You two have got a case to debrief us on." Mia ordered.
Mary sighed, "That's what I thought." Damian rolled his eyes, and only glared at Lian. He didn't like her. That was obvious, but he kept his mouth shut and followed Mary into the back seat of the car.
"Now the case, you've got." Lian said once they had gotten on the road.
"This is the deal," Mary started, "About a dozen kids in the U.S have gone missing. All major cities excluding Gotham have been hit, this city is the lastest one. Guess, it's lucky number 12. "
"Okay, what do we have to go on?" Mia asked looking in the rearview mirror. "Because that doesn't sound like a lot."
"You're right, it isn't much, but I do have a little more. Each child was taken in a week's time span, from different cities such as Chicago, Metropolis, Manhattan, D.C, Jump , Star, and Central."
"That's quite a fast traveler, so what are we dealing with an insane flight attendant?" Lian asked.
Mary shook her head, "That or a teleporter."
Silence followed Mary's words. She expected that because-
"Bullshit!" Damian said speaking for the first time since they had gotten in the car. Mary hadn't told him her hypothesis. Just case specifics.
"I'm going to agree with the Boy Wonder here." Mia gave Mary a skeptical look in the rear view mirror. Lian said nothing only giving Mary a crazy look.
"You know no one has a teleportation power that strong! No one can teleport with that kind of range. That's hundreds of miles we're talking about, Mini Grayson. There's no way." Damian argued.
"Unless, it's someone not in the data base." Mary pointed out.
"Yeah, but what's the chance of that?"
"1 out 598,725." Mary answered quickly. Damian not fazed that she actually answered, kept going.
"See, what's the likelihood that someone with undocumented powers like that are going to go unnoticed by someone! With so many heroes, I think one would know of a long range teleporter!"
"Yes, but we still have undocumented alien landings!" Mary argued back, "Not to mention the undocumented Meta-humans that are discovering their powers daily. There are plenty of people who we could not know with this power. Think about it, 12 kids missing in under week? All those cities hit in that short of a time period? It has to be a teleporter of some kind. I wouldn't even think it if it weren't possible, but it is, and it make sense. So, are you guys still with me?"
Damian glared at Mary for the what seemed to be the millionth time that day, but nodded.
Mia sighed, "Fine, but only because I want to see if it really is a long range teleporter."
"I'm still in! I get to get out of the house and do a case right under my dad's nose! Two birds one stone!"
"Good. There were going to need to go 724 Valleystay Park, because that's the address of our latest victim."
Mia nodded, but the car into a different gear and sped onto the freeway.
Mr. Carson, the cab driver, wasn't sure what to expect when those kids told him that someone would be coming to him looking for them. It sure as hell was not The Goddamn Batman.
Now, He wasn't sure of what to do because the Batman was standing at the foot of his bed, in his motel room, glaring at him with some other masked character cleaning a gun next to him. Yes, Mr. Carson was about five seconds from wetting his pants.
"Mr. Robert Carson." Said the gruff voice of Batman. "We have some questions to ask you." Yeah, he kind of figured, but said nothing. Fear kept him from opening his mouth.
"You got the poor guy scared half to death, Batman. Give him a break he probably doesn't know anything anyway. I doubt those kids told him much." Said the man in the red mask, who Mr. Carson later found out to be the Red Hood, a crime lord in Gotham. Yeah, what the fuck did Mr Carson get into.
"Y-You want to know about those two k-kids?" Mr. Carson stuttered. Who the hell were those kids? Mr. Carson thought to himself.
"Yes, now where did you take them?" Batman growled. Mr. Carson winced. What did he ever do to deserve this? What was he supposed to tell the friggin' Batman. Mr. Carson then remembered what that young girl had told him. Tell him the truth.
"They paid me a 1000 dollars to drive to San Jose. That's all I know, I swear!" Mr. Carson said in a rushed scared tone. Red Hood must have found his fright amusing because he laughed.
"See?" He said to the Batman, "They're in San Jose. That was easy. It'll take a while to find them so we better get going."
"It's never this easy." Batman retorted sharply. "We found the tracer on him, so either Starling or Robin found it, and purposely left it on him so we would come here. Unless, we didn't train them well enough. There is no way either of them are in San Jose." Mr. Carson gulped. He had figured it out. What the hell was he supposed to do now? "Now, the question is Mr. Carson," Batman grabbed the man by the collar of his shirt and lifted him into the air, and in and eerily calm, but frightening voice said, "What else do you know."
Needless to say, Mr. Carson figuratively spilled his guts. Revealing that the kids had walked back to San Francisco, but had originally planned to go to Star City. After that, he didn't know anything else, and the Batman and Red Hood left him in the peace of his motel room. His only thought is as followed;
That was totally not worth 1000 dollars.
With Batman and Red Hood, Red Hood was currently calling Arsenal on his phone so that they could meet up. Now, they would find Robin and Starling in no time.
Breaking into the home of missing person, Amanda Summers turned out not to be very difficult. Though it did take longer because Lian and Damian had gotten into an argument about who should be the one to pick the lock. While they were arguing, Mia took it upon herself to do it, and let Mary and herself inside.
Of course, neither of them were pleased with this outcome.
"Why are we here? What can you possibly get from coming here and to not where the girl had gone missing?" Lian asked looking around the house.
"A confirmation of what I already know." Mary answered heading down the hall where she hoped the girl's room would be. Lian followed her.
"A confirmation of what?"
Mary opened a door only to find a bathroom and sighed. She continued down the hall, "All the other children were special...Talented in some way. Each were award-winning children in either athletics or academics. One girl was gymnastics prodigy, she's 10 and said to be the next Gabby Douglas. She was taken from a gymnastics competition. One boy was a computer genius. He is 12. He created a computer virus that could eat through any computer system in the world, he sold to the American government for 10.5 million dollars. He was taken from a computer convention. Another girl is MMA fighter, she is 15 and was taken from her dressing room right before her belt winning fight. A 7 year old boy, who can speak 12 different languages fluently was kidnapped right before his interview on the Ellen Show. All these kids were special in some way and taken without a trace, without any evidence, from a place related to their talents. Amanda Summers was the only one who was not. Her details about her kidnapping were different. I couldn't find any information on her really."
"So, you came here, to her home." Lian finished. "What was different about her case?"
"Amanda Summers did not go missing at something related to her talent, but at a friend's birthday dinner. Like the others no evidence. I also don't know if she does anything special. No News Paper articles about her, no social media. She's like the only 18 year old in the world with a Facebook or Twitter. So, I had to come and confirm if she was special in some way, too." Mary opened a door, and clicked on the lights. She smiled. "Bingo."
On the wall, on a shelf was countless, and countless trophies, medals and certificates. Mary and Lian walked inside. Mary picked up a certificate. "First Place state track meet, 100 meter dash." She read aloud. "Like I said, gifted and talented."
Lian let out a whistle, "Dang, looks like she was heading to the olympics from the looks of it."
Mary nodded, "Damian get in here." She called out through the house. He walked through the door, Mia right behind him. He looked at Mary then at the wall of awards.
"She fits the M.O." He declared.
"And then some," Mary replied. "What's are next course of action?" She asked him.
Damian thought for a moment, "The kid right before this one was in Jump, right?" Mary nodded, "Then they're bound to hit something else on this coast, as well. Remember they hit Manhattan, D.C, and Metropolis in a day. The kid in jump was taken only a couple of hours before this girl went missing."
"You think they're working based on what area they are in?" Mia asked
"I know they are." Damian said confidently.
"That's good. Then this is almost too easy!" Mary cheered. "All we have to do is find some sort of national or state competition that's happening either today or tomorrow. Mia, you know of any?"
"No, not into all of that kind of stuff." She answered.
"I don't know anything either." Lian sighed. Mary sucked her teeth, then eyed what she needed on Amanda Summers's desk.
"Perfect! A laptop." She moved to the desk, thanked god Amanda's password was her middle name, and began searching. "Crap! How could I forget!"
"Forget What?!" Damian ran up to the computer and looked at what she found.
"Dance Nationals. I had forgotten about that." Mary sulked down into the desk chair. "Funny, that I still get go."
"What is she talking about?" Lian asked Damian, but he only shrugged.
Mary laughed a little cold, odd laugh. "Hey Damian, you remember my last dance competition?"
"Yeah, but I couldn't go because-
"You were working a case in Dubai with Batman. I know, I know. Did you know I got first place? Did you know that competition was the state wide qualifier to see who would go represent New Jersey at the Nationals in San Francisco?"
Mia looked confused, "If you won, then why aren't you there?"
Mary sighed, "You know why. Because to do what we do-"
"We have to make sacrifices." Damian finished for her, "Grayson, you knew that from day one. Now is not the time to cry over it. Lives are at stake and we have a job to do." Mary nodded.
"Then we need to head back to San Francisco." Mary said her moment of weakness over and done with. "From there, we can scout out who would take these kids and stop them from getting lucky number 13."
"We'll need back stage access for that kind of thing. Last I checked, we need a dance team to do that."
"My dance team is already there." Mary said. "I'll just name drop and get us back there. We'll need some hairspray first.
"Why?"
Mary rolled her eyes, "As an excuse as to why we didn't walk in with them. Let's go, the competition starts in two hours."
Jason had to hand it to those kids. When they wanted to stay gone, they stayed gone. He thought it was funny, but Green Arrow, Black Canary, Arsenal, and Batman did not find it as amusing as he did. Probably because Damian and Mary had drawn Mia and Lian into their little disappearing act... Haha. Oops.
Surprise, Surprise. They, of course, blamed him. However, Jason pointed out, Lian has been doing worse shit since she was in grade school. That shut Roy up, but Dinah and Ollie still grilled him about letting Damian and Mary go in the first place. Really, the parentals need to chill. Mia, who was an adult technically, was with them. The kid had a good head on her shoulders. She would take care of the youngsters. She was Tim's age, but had more street smarts then him in her pinky finger. Now, he really wasn't worried Mary and Damian. They'd show up back in Gotham when they were done as if nothing had ever happened.
Of course, Batman would hear none of it. He didn't like being left out of the loop. Fucking hypocrite.
"Okay, if they came here to work a case, where would they go?" Arsenal asked.
"I have about 5 cases that would lead them here."
"So, what you're saying it would take to long to track them down." Dinah said. "What if they're not here on a case?"
Both Red Hood and Batman snorted. "Mary, maybe. But Damian is with her, so no."
"Yeah, but Damian wouldn't let Mary leave Gotham alone." Roy pointed out. True, Jason thought to himself. He had been threatened enough to know not to leave the younger girl alone, not that she wasn't capable, but because surprises did happen, and she's never worked solo before.
"So, what is here that Mary would sneak out of Gotham to go?" Canary asked.
Red Hood snapped as it came to him. "Dance Nationals."
Everyone in the room turned to him, "What?"
"Dance Nationals. I don't know if any of you remember, but Mary Grayson is the number one dancer in the state of New Jersey."Jason said with a lot of pride. "She qualified to be able to go to Nationals and if she won that to internationals."
Batman frowned, "She opted out of going, though."
"Yeah, but did she really want to go?" Green Arrow asked.
"Hell yeah," Hood answered, "She was pretty torn up about it, when her father and B-Man told her that she couldn't go."
Canary turned to Batman, "You told her she couldn't go! Why? She worked her ass off and beat every kid in the state of New Jersey, she should be able to go."
"That's what I said!" Red Hood intervened.
"And if she won, she would have been even more in the public eye. More chances for someone to connect her to Starling. I have no doubt that if she would have went she would have won, but that's the issue." Batman said. " Sacrifices have to be made for what we do. She understood that, and handed her chance to go to the second placer."
"So you killed, not only her chance to go, but her dance team's?" Canary said outraged
"No, the second place kid was on her dance team, plus they're going because they placed first in groups." He kept his cool. He was used to Canary.
"Oh yeah, that's totally not going to bother her." Roy said sarcastically.
"She's 11, Bruce. She should be able to be 11. And that means School, dance competitions, the whole nine yards." Canary scolded.
"She wouldn't have entered after we told her not to." Batman replied ignoring Black Canary's comment.
"She might not, but she would go and watch and cheer her teammates on." Roy argued.
Red Hood ponder this, "I don't think so..." He said. "I still think she and Damian are on a case."
"Yeah, but this a big enough lead for us to still check out." Canary said. "So, Bruce and Jason, You two civvies on. You can go inside and look for her. Technically, you have a good enough reason to be there. The rest of us will stay outside and look for them see if they come in after you, or leave."
"Sounds like a plan, Pretty bird." Green Arrow agreed.
"I'm game." Arsenal said standing up.
Batman and Red Hood exchanged a glance. It seemed neither of them believed Mary or Damian to be at this dance competition, but it couldn't hurt to check. After a few seconds they both nodded. Maybe, they would be able to find something there.
"Alright. Let's go."
"Lady Listen, I'm Mary Grayson I'm in the Jersey Revolutionaries! Kevin needs his hairspray, you gotta let me give it to him. Come on, we forgot it back at our hotel! I had to run back there with our ride to go get so you really need to let us through before Kevin pitches a fit. He hates it when his hair isn't done properly for competitions. It affects his mojo, he'll do badly on his solo. So please, let us through..."
The woman looked unsure, but Mary's story was so far checking out, all but the missing hairspray. There was a Kevin with the New Jersey Dance team, and he was in solos so..."Alright here. Take these passes, and go on. But be quick the competition is going to start soon. Solos are first."
Mary smiled at the lady, "Thanks, we'll be fast. Let's go guys!" And Mary ran inside with the rest trailing behind her going a similar speed.
"Okay, now that we're here. Who would the kidnapper be going after?" Lian asked.
"Easy, only two people here are even close to be on the list for potential targets." Mary answered, running through the crowd of dancers getting dresses. " Casey and Gavin, their dance partners, and they dominate where ever they go. Separate, you might can beat them, but together you have snowballs chance in hell. I faced them at a competition in New York City. In Solos, I got bumped 4th place, and in duets they destroyed me and my partner Kevin with their Beetlejuice routine. We still got second but they were still a good 10 points ahead of us. Needless to say we weren't every happy with the outcome of that competition."
"And they both are competing separate for solos today?" Asked Mia.
"Ummm... Maybe. I don't know. They live in different states and only come together for a few competitions, they might be. Hold on I'll look." Mary quickly found the schedule. Sure enough, both were on the list for Solos and Duets. "Yeah. This just got harder."
"We'll have to split up." Damian said. "Lian and Mary, stay with Casey. Mia, you and me are going to watch Gavin. Most likely after each one performs the kidnapper will try and kidnap them, so we got to watch them. Something might change like with Amanda Summers. The kidnapper could get impatient."
"Got it."
"And Mary, don't let any of your friends see you here. It'll be too hard to explain." And with that, they parted ways.
"Wait, Mary, Do they even know what Gavin looks like?" Lian asked.
"Damian's not stupid." Mary answered. "He's been to dance competitions with me before, and he saw the list. Casey is going third meaning she's already by the stage waiting her turn to go on. That's where we're going. While Gavin isn't going until way after, so he's still getting ready in the dressing room. That's how he'll find him. The names of the dance studios are outside the doors."
"Ohh, You guys are good." Lian commented.
"We've just doing doing this a long time." Mary replied.
Lian paused for a second, "Do you think that..." She paused again, "Do you think if my dad had let me start when I was your age. I'd be good, too? I mean, I know I'm a good fighter, but all this guessing and searching, and detective work, and sneaking around. I don't know if I would be good at that. Maybe, my dad was right about keeping me out of all this."
Mary stopped walking letting Lian crash into her suddenly still back before turning around and giving her a glare Damian would be proud of. "Don't say that. Don't even think it. Lian, if you had started when you were 9/10 like I did, I know for a fact you'd be the best. Even now, you're keeping up with me and Damian. With no experience, too. Once you get out there, you'll be the best of our generation, Lian. Don't sell yourself short. All you have to do to achieve that greatness is to get on your dad's butt about letting you get out there. "
"You really think so?" She asked.
"I know so. Now, let's get going. If we catch this crook. You can prove to your dad that you are ready. Even if the whole Starling stunt didn't make him believe it this surely will." Mary grabbed Lian's hand and pulled her towards back stage.
When they got to the door, Mary stopped.
"Why did you stop? Don't we need to be back there?" Lian asked.
"People really aren't allowed back there. So, we need to find a way not to get us in trouble. We need a bird's eye view." Mary said looking around.
"How bout that." Lian pointed to the door a little ways off labeled catwalk.
"Good eyes, Lian. That's perfect." Mary and Lian rushed to the door, Lian quickly picked the lock and the two of them headed up the stares and onto the stage's Catwalk, where the lights were. Luckily, no one needed to do it manually today, so Mary and Lian didn't have to worry about getting caught with everyone else watching the dancing.
"Look, Lian. That's Casey." Mary pointed backstage where a brown-haired girl was stretching.
"Okay, we got visual." Lian pulled out a scope to get a closer look a Casey, and her surroundings. "So far nothing suspicious to report."
"Starling to Robin, We've got visual, nothing to report." Mary said in her comm.
"Robin, here. Speedy and I also have visual. No suspicious characters around to report. Keep radio silence until something of importance occurs. Clear?"
"Reading you loud." And Mary turned off her comm. "Keep close watch, Lian." She told the older girl.
"Gotcha'. Just call me Hawkeye."
Mary watched the boy soloist on stage. She didn't know him. A kid from florida, when he finished Casey would go. After that it would be the perfect opportunity for the kidnapper to strike. No one would be paying attention to Casey as she made her way back to the dressing room. Mary had to focus on everything surrounding Casey, well she was supposed to, if the figure of someone she knew didn't distract her.
She saw him the moment he walked backstage. He was wearing a ring leader costume complete with a little hat. It was Kevin Thompson, Her Best friend, Her Dance partner. And she knew this dance. It was originally a duet. It was originally their duet, but with Mary gone it had to be a solo. Mary wasn't going to lie. It hurt that she wasn't there with Kevin backstage stretching as they waited their turn, but she knew she couldn't. She made her choice years ago when she came to earth what she was going to do, and that was be a superhero.
However, no matter how much Kevin distracted her from her current Job, nothing could distract her from that terrible smell.
Mary pinched her nose, "What the heck is that smell?" She said in a nasally tone.
Lian looked at her with a confused face as she sniffed the air, "What smell? I don't smell anything."
"Heightened Senses. Of all the the powers to keep." Lian blinked at Mary.
"You have powers?" she asked.
"Not anymore." Mary said still pinching her nose. The sound of clapping began to fill the room. "Look alive, Casey's going on stage." The crowd quieted as quickly as they started clapping and Casey came onto the stage. She was doing a hip hop dance. While new to the style like Mary, she absolutely killed in a way Mary wished she could . Casey really was the best. That's why she wasn't surprised when mid way through Casey's dance, a girl came backstage.
Mary would have thought she was a dancer the way she was dressed. A scantily clad outfit of white, with matching bunny ears and white hair, but last she checked no one over 16 was doing this competitions, and the girl below was about 18 herself. She looked around, no one else seemed to notice her presence and just waited leaning against the wall.
"Lian, 10 O'clock. The white rabbit girl. Possible suspect." Mary informed.
"What? She looks like a dancer to me."
"She's too old for this division. She has to be at least 18, maybe older. This competition only goes to 16."
"Then call it in." Lian said. "Want me to go down there?"
"No, I will. Stay here and cover me case anything goes wrong. Got it?" Lian nodded. Mary turned back on her comm link, "Star to Boy Wonder, I've got visual on potential suspect, I'm making contact."
"Don't do anything stupid, Small Grayson."
"Yeah, Yeah." Mary turned to Lian, and handed her an extra comm link. "You can stay in contact with me and Damian with this." Lian took it and put it in her ear.
"This is Little Red, now on the comm." She said.
"Robin and Speedy got you loud and clear." Damian replied.
"Go quickly, Mary. I think Casey's almost done." Lian urged, and Mary descended down the steps and headed back stage.
The corner the girl stood in was empty when she had gotten down there. Mary looked around and saw nothing. No white rabbit girl, at all.
"What are you doing, Starling? The girl's right behind you." Mary didn't reply for fear of someone noticing her talking to herself, but swung around, and again saw nothing. "Really, Star, are you blind now? She's right in front of you!" Mary looked up from the floor and jumped back as the white rabbit girl now stood in front of her where Mary had seen her from the catwalk.
"Oh my, you scared me." Mary said talking to the girl. The girl looked up at Mary confused, and looked around as if she didn't know Mary was talking to her. Then smiled sweetly at her. Another Power, Mary thought to herself. She can make herself unnoticeable.
"Yeah, I'm a little hard to notice." She said back.
Mary smirked, She could easily out her now. "Are you a dancer?"
"Yeah, I'm just waiting my turn!"
Hook, line, and sinker. "How old are you? And how long have you been dancing?" Mary asked.
"Oh I'm 19. I've been dancing since I was 5. I love it. Competing and all of that jazz." she said with an uncomfortable chuckle.
"19! Wow, that's amazing, since this competition only goes to the age of 16." Mary smiled at the girl, but she only narrowed her eyes at her. "I suggest you leave before I call security." Mary told her.
"Really, you little girl is going to call security. Big Whoop." She grabbed Mary's wrist harshly and squeezed it in her grasp. "I'm bigger than you little girl. Now, if you know what's good for you, you'll forget you ever saw me."
"How about you let me go before you're in a world of pain." Mary growled.
"And what are you going to do to me, 5 footer." She said applying more pressure to Mary's wrist. Suddenly a small arrow whizzed in between there faces and imbedded itself in the wall behind them. Both of them looked out towards the catwalk. Luckily, you couldn't see anything with the lights on.
"Crap, the Arrow. How'd he know about me?!" White rabbit let go of Mary's wrist.
"I got your back, Star." Lian reported in the ear comm. Mary sent a smile her way and turned back to White Rabbit to find her suddenly gone. "Oh crap." Lian said in her ear. Yeah, Mary had the same sentiment.
Mary ran from backstage speaking into her ear comm, not noticing that someone had noticed her on her way out. Someone she really didn't need seeing her, Kevin.
"Little Red, Robin, Speedy, time to regroup. I think we scared her off." Mary said into the comm.
"Great! How are we going to catch her now!" Damian groaned.
"Wasn't me." Mary said, "Lian was the one who fires an arrow at her. Now, the girl thinks Ollie's on her tail."
"You have a bow on you?" Mia asked.
"Yeah, my crossbow! Uncle Ollie says never leave home without it!"
"You might have just blown the case there, Arrowette." Damian said mockingly.
"Hey! Mary was about to blow her cover!"
"I had it under control! Besides, I had plan!"
"Didn't sound like it." Lian said under her breathe.
"Hey, How about yo-
"Enough." Mia intervened. "Everyone meet back in the parking garage, at the car. Starling, I know you have some good news to tell us in the car. Now break." Mary turned off her comm. Two minutes later, Lian was by her side, and they were at the car soon after.
"So, what's the good news?" Mia asked. Mary smirked.
"White Rabbit grabbed my wrist she made it almost to easy." Mary pulled out her phone, on her screen a map with a blinking Purple bird on it.
"You tagged her." Damian said with a grin. "Where'd you learn that trick?" He asked sarcastically.
Mary laughed, "I'll have to thank Jason when we get home for the crash course on tagging people. "
As The group of four left the competition did Bruce Wayne and Jason Todd pull in.
"We're in position, Arrow. You see them?" Bruce said into his ear piece.
"Nothing on our end?" Green arrow reported in the comm. Bruce nodded to Jason and they both headed inside. It was easy to convince the person at the entrance table that they were parents going to see a child. After that they made their way to Mary's dance team's dressing room.
"Oh My, Bruce Wayne! How nice of you to drop by!" Said Mary's head coach, Michelle Bissonnette.
"Hello, Ms. Bissonnette, Has Mary happened to drop by?" Bruce asked putting on that award winning smile.
"Oh no, Mary said she was staying in Gotham this weekend. That it was one of her uncle's birthday, I think?" Now, Ms. Michelle was giving Bruce and Jason a suspicious look. "Is everything alright?"
"Yes," Jason said. "It's my brother's Birthday, you know the one, Timothy." Jason lied. "We brought him to San Fran, for his birthday. His favorite restaurant's here." Michelle smiled fondly at them, all suspicion left her eyes.
"Yes," Bruce said. "Mary and her father were supposed to be picking Tim up from the airport, but they said they would stop here first. You sure you didn't see them?"
"No, I'm sorry. I guess she didn't have time to stop by. It would have been nice to see her." Said Michelle.
"Well, thank you. We'll be going. Good luck to all of you." Bruce waved and began to head out when a young boy's voice stopped him.
"Mr. Wayne, Jason, Wait." It was Kevin Thompson. "I think I saw Mary here actually."
A girl snorted, "Come on, Kev. We haven't seen Mary here. Mr. Wayne's probably busy."
"No, really!" He turned back to Bruce and Jason. "She was Back Stage, right before I went on for my solo. She looked like she was about to get into a fight with some girl dressed like a playboy bunny. Next thing I knew, The girl was gone and Mary was walking out talking to herself. From the way she was talking it sounded like she was talking to Damian. I think she had a bluetooth in her ear or something. I couldn't really tell."
"You sure it was her?" Jason asked.
"At first I wasn't then I heard her voice. She always sounds annoyed when she's talking to Damian. That's how I knew it was her. Plus, the hair going to her butt is a dead giveaway."
Jason grinned, "Thanks, Kev. I'll see you back in Gotham." Jason turned to Bruce, "Ready." Bruce nodded. "Bye." As they walked out of the room, Roy's voice spoke in the Comm.
"I got visual on Mia's car. Currently following it."
"Keep on them. We'll be right there."
"Now let's see what Mary and Damian are up to." Jason said with a smirk.
"We're here." Speedy announced. They had changed into their gear during the drive over, a little awkward(Damian had to close his eyes) but doable. Starling has not idea how Speedy did it while driving, but who cares. Apparently, Ollie had an Outfit made for Lian, Why? No one knows, probably for moments like this one.
"Inside Apartment 8 is the White Rabbit." Said Starling.
"What we go in and kick ass?" Lian asked. Starling shook her head.
"As much as I want to, we wouldn't find the missing kids that way." Robin said.
"We need to capture her." Speedy said
"A little spying is necessary." Starling added with a frown. She hated stealth.
"Got it." Lian got out of the car, and followed the heroes up the fire escape to the 8th floor. Starling peeked inside.
"I think it's safe to go in this room." She fiddled with the window, unlocking it, and opened it before slipping inside. Silently, Robin and Speedy followed. Lian followed their lead.
Robin moved ahead of Starling, peering down the hallway, while signaling them to stop moving. He stayed there as he made a motion pointing to his ear. Listen.
A voice, that Starling recognized as The White Rabbit went down the hallway. She sounded as if she were upset, her voice steadily rising. Lian looking down the hallway saw the last room door open and inside, The White Rabbit.
"I had to go the Arrows were onto me!...I don't know how they found out about me...I know you wanted that Casey girl and her partner Gavin, but it just wasn't happening...I'll find out where their next competition is and get them there...Yeah, yeah, I know...I'll move onto the next target." The White Rabbit continued on like this for the next couple minutes. It seemed she would indefinitely. Starling, Robin, and Speedy turned to each other and started having a silent conversation that Lian didn't understand. She must have missed the course on super hero mind reading. She thought to herself, sarcastically. Finally, they all turned to her expectingly.
She stared at them unsure of what they wanted of her. Then Robin motioned his head toward the room with White Rabbit. Lian felt her lips form and "O" shape. They wanted her to make the first move against The White Rabbit. Lian looked up at them unsure. She was dying for this moment, and now that it was here, well...It was different then what she had expected. Starling gave Lian a huge grin and two thumbs up. Speedy gave her a small smile with an encouraging nod, and Robin tapped his wrist as if a watch was there telling her to get on with it. Lian released a breathe she just now realized she was holding.
Lian reached for her bow, and put it into position. She reached in her quiver, and pulled out an arrow, setting it up properly. She aimed straight into the room, where she watched The White Rabbit pacing around the room arguing with whoever was on the phone with her. She Paused Right in front of the door. With an Inhale, Lian pulled back, and with an exhale she released. She sent The arrow flying into the room not hitting The White Rabbit at all, instead hitting the phone in her hand an pinning it to the wall.
The White Rabbit gasped, and ran to close the door. Only for it to be kicked not even a second later by Starling.
"You're late for a very important date, White Rabbit." Starling sang.
"That was absolutely terrible." Speedy said bow armed and ready.
"She gets it from Nightwing." Robin sighed. "You get used to horrible one-liners. If you think that's bad be on a stakeout with her, she doesn't shut up."
"How do you even manage?"
"Barely."
"I'm right here!" Starling cried. "Don't talk about me like I'm not here. You two are terrible!" Starling turned to Lian. "Very Nicely done with the Phone, Little Red. Very Creative."
"Seconded." Speedy agreed.
"Now, White Rabbit. I think you have some answers for us." Robin said cracking his knuckles.
White Rabbit backed against the wall, "What do you want with me?"
Robin raised an eyebrow at her, "Really? You kidnap 12 children in the span of a school week, and you what to know what we want with you. We're here to order girl scout cookies, of course." He snapped.
"I won't tell you anything." She proclaimed. Starling rolled her eyes.
"It's always the same song and dance with you guys. Speedy, An arrow if you don't mind." Not a second later an arrow was in the wall right above The White Rabbit's head. She screamed and crouched down onto the floor.
Robin snorted a short laugh, but stopped when Starling shot him a look.
"Okay, Okay. I'll tell you what you want to know. Just don't kill me!" She screamed.
"That was easy." Lian commented.
Starling gazed at the white rabbit hard before pointing at her in astonishment. "You're the one who stinks!" She yelled.
"What?"
"What?"
"What the actual hell, Starling?"
Starling Jumped up and down, "Hear me out, Robin. This is important." She swore.
"Yeah, right!"
"No, Really! She's not human!"
"Again, What?" Speedy said confused.
"Explain yourself, girl." Robin ordered.
"She's an alien, guys. Like not from Earth, I know because she still smells like space. How long have you been on earth anyway 2 weeks tops? It takes at least a month to get rid of the open space smell."
"Hold the phone." Speedy relaxed her bow. "Space has a smell?"
Starling tapped her chin in thought, "It's hard to explain since you human, can't experience it. Well, Hal would know, it's kind of a thing I can't explain, but yes, Space has a smell. You're not human, right?" Starling asked The White Rabbit.
"Why should I tell you!?" She screamed at them gaining some courage.
"Another arrow, Speedy." Robin ordered.
"Another Arrow?"
"Another arrow", he confirmed. Another arrow found it's place right above her left ear. Again White Rabbit screamed.
"OKAY! Yes, I'm an alien, just please stop!"
"You're kind of cowardly." Starling noted. "What? Don't tell me you're Amarian? You Look Amarian, pink eyes and all. Oh yeah, you have to be Amarian."
"Amarian?" Robin asked.
"Yeah, a small planet that has gotten taken over by multiple other planets in it's history. They're cowardly people, with simple magic properties. Each Amarian's powers are different, but they all tend to be ruled by their emotions."
"Meaning?" Lian asked.
"That she probably can't teleport right now because she's too scared."
Robin held back another laugh. "So let's get back onto important things. Why are you kidnapping these kids?"
White Rabbit peeked out from the position that was hiding her face. "I don't know!"
"Speedy-"
"WAIT NO! I swear I don't know! I'm hired to get the kids! She heard about my powers, and pays me a lot to get them! I don't know why she does it! Don't hurt me!" White Rabbit cried.
"Now, Where do they keep the kids?" Starling asked.
"I don't know that, either! I pass them to her, and she takes them some place else. We meet in Paris with the kids, after that she takes them some place I don't know."
Robin sucked his teeth, "Tt, Then what do you know? Because right now it looks like nothing."
"I know her name!" White Rabbit pleaded, "Or at least what she calls herself! She calls herself The Red Queen. That's all I know, I swear! I'm just a thief for hire really!"
Only Robin noticed the way Starling froze, it was only for a fraction of a second, but Starling froze before ordering Robin in a cold voice. "Call Batman, She's the league's problem now. They're going to want to know about her long range teleportation powers, and the missing children she helped kidnapped. I'm done here." Starling walked out of the room and onto the fire escape. She shivered though it wasn't cold outside. She needed air. She needed space.
Alicia Royal, The Red Queen, would be turning 11 this year. Young, but deadly, it seemed no matter where Starling went she could never escape Alicia's hold on her.
"Starling," Robin came out onto the fire escape. "Batman and Hood are here. They apparently followed us here from the dance competition with most of Lian's family."
"That's good." Starling answered.
"You're not okay." It wasn't a question, but an observation Robin made. "Red Queen, that's the Royal girl, isn't it?"
"Yes. "
"Is she what drew you to this case?" Robin asked.
"I don't know." Starling answered honestly. "I felt something familiar about the case. That's why I..." She trailed off.
"Familiar how?" Robin asked. Starling didn't answer him. "Familiar How, Starling?" Still no answer. "Answer me, Mary!"
Starling looked up at Robin fear in her eyes, "I think I planned this, Damian."
Final word count: 11,171(God Bless a decent length)
Now, I have returned from dead! BWAHAHAHA(jk) I know, I've been gone long. Yeah, since last year. Not a real year, but my last update was in 2014 it is now 2015 even if it was like a day after christmas. It's been a good while. Still shorter than most! The Main reason for the long time is because I went back to the drawing board with this chapter. It was an idea I had as a filler chapter were the Arrow family comes to Gotham, but I hated the idea when I really thought about. So I nixed it. I then wrote the chapter I wanted about the missing children and white Rabbit. I wanted Mar'i to be older, but it seems better this way. I was able to add some aspects from the original draft like Lian, I wasn't able to add Olivia Queen though :( Yeah that makes me sad maybe later on. I added Mia cause she is cool yo. Also the Dance Kids are based off of real people, Kaycee Rice and Gabe de Guzman. They do my favorite dance called Beetlejuice. Look them up! Kaycee is the reason Mar'i dances in my story.
Also Alicia Royal is coming back, slowly but surely. Oh, What does she have planned. Only I know(Even I barely know), Alicia is slick like that. I wonder what she plans to do with all those kids?
Now What you guys think about new Wonder Woman Design... I don't like it. If they wanted pants The injustice one is cute. Also, Kori's new look as well? Kori's pretty in anything, so I don't care. Did ya'll see Batman Vs Robin surprising good in my opinion, I honestly thought it was going to be shit, but it wasn't bad like the first one...Or War. I also loved Assault on Arkham It was a beautiful movie man one of Faves now.
I'm still choosing what I'm doing next chapter, we'll see mostly because I have things in my head that I might decide to do. When I decide I'll get on the next chapter!
Special thanks to my reviewers, Gabysweet10, Son Of Whitebeard, 21 is awesome, a guest reviewer, and JadenCage for reviewing my story. You guys are the reason I want to be a better writer.
What do you think of this chapter?
Any Comments/Concerns/Critiques
Then please Review!
Love,
~Miyu K. April 5, 2015