Chapter Thirty-Seven

Gateway City

United States

10:54 – Pacific Standard Time

March 17, 2007

They were going over the plan a second time.

Aresia sat at the end of the old table in the abandoned rustic house that lay on the outskirts of Gateway City. Circe, Tsukuri, and Cheetah were on one side to her left and Emmylou, Volcana, Catwoman and Giganta on her right.

"What's your role?" Aresia asked Giganta.

"Both me and Circe wait outside," she answered. "We're there to hold and frighten off the cops when they arrive."

"Correct," Aresia responded without a hint of joy or even emotion. "They aren't equipped to deal with us, so they'll hang back and wait for reinforcements. By the time they arrive we'll be long gone. In fact, if we do this right, we might be out of there before the first responders arrive at the museum."

"And the Justice League?" Volcana asked.

"You've seen the news reports, they won't be a problem," Aresia said dismissively. "Not a major one at least."

Catwoman and Giganta exchanged a glance. They both knew that wasn't the case. Aresia and the others were in for a surprise. Of course, Catwoman's plan of her and Giganta helping each other had hit a bit of a snag, with the size-shifter being outside. Despite this fact, this suited Catwoman fine, as she could grab a few trinkets, then slip away while the others were engaged in the fight that was sure to ensue with the heroes.

"Besides, even if the Justice League was at full strength, we'll be in and out before they could respond anyway," Aresia said. "That's why you're all here. The local law enforcement has no way of dealing with us, so this will be easy."

"I hope so," Volcana said.

Aresia continued, "And once we've got what I want and a few expensive artefacts to sell on, Circe will get us out of there and to safety before anything has a chance of going wrong."

"And if it does?" Cheetah questioned. "I have had enough experience to know that what can go wrong, probably and most likely will."

"Just focus on the job at hand." Aresia looked at all of their faces, before looking back to Cheetah. "You know your role, right?"

"I and Tsukuri are there make sure security or the employees don't do anything stupid while you, Emmylou and Volcana get the artefacts into the crates."

"Well done," Aresia congratulated her in a patronising tone of voice.

Cheetah frowned and folded her arms over her chest while she muttered something under her breath.

"Any questions?" The leader asked them.

Volcana raised her hand. "Yeah, what happens afterwards?"

"We go our separate ways."

"I know that part. I mean how are we going about selling the artefacts you don't want and how are we getting paid? I think everyone will agree with me that that is the most important part."

"Sure do," Emmylou agreed.

"I already have buyers ready," Aresia assured them. "You will get your payment and you will be quite satisfied."

Catwoman smirked at this. "I'm insatiable," she told her. "I'm never satisfied."

Aresia looked at her unimpressed. "You're also annoying." She stood up sharply. "That's it for now. Relax for the next few hours. But at four sharp this afternoon, I want you all back in here where I will go over the plan in detail once more before we head off to the museum."

Everyone rose and left the room.

Watchtower II

Earth Orbit

14:58 – Station Time (EST)

March 17, 2007

Taking the advice from Barry, Wally as Flash had returned to the area and had found a few surveillance cameras. He had managed to get a look at the footage and had convinced those that operated the cameras to give him copies of the recordings. Now, he was back on the Watchtower and was going to check the database to see if he could match the blonde woman that had followed Giganta to any known felons.

Flash stepped into one of many computer labs aboard the Watchtower. He had reserved the room for his own use and luckily he was the only one, so he had all day if he needed it.

After logging into the terminal, he put the first disc into the drive and found the best image he could of the woman's face. He then cleared it up the best he could before he began the automated search, using the Watchtower's vast library of images.

He leant back in his chair knowing he would have to wait a while.

That's when the door opened and Batman stepped in.

Flash groaned. "What do you want Bats?"

"I want to know why you were trying to contact Shayera earlier?" he replied.

"I just needed her for something, but it doesn't matter now."

Batman looked at the image on the screen, which annoyed Flash.

"What?" the Speedster demanded. He really wasn't in the mood to deal with him right now.

"You're searching for who this woman is, correct?"

"Maybe," Flash responded obtusely. He wished Batman would just go away.

"Don't bother."

"What do you mean?"

"Her name is Emmylou Brown, her father died in prison while the two of them were serving time."

"For what?" Flash demanded, starting to get his hopes up. If Batman knew who this person was, then maybe there was a chance of finding her.

"Unleashing a horde of genetically modified animals and insects on Gotham," Batman told him.

"Modified animals?" Flash repeated, immediately jumping to the wrong conclusion.

Giganta was a former Gorilla that had been altered by Grodd into a human with the ability to alter size and density. His immediate thoughts were that this was the reason this Emmylou was interested in her.

Flash stood up. "Do you know where I can find her?" he demanded.

"No," Batman said. "Why, is this important?"

Flash held his tongue. He didn't want to tell Batman why. He knew how he would react. Getting involved with a villain, or former villain as he liked to believe, was not something heroes were supposed to do.

Unfortunately, Batman being Batman meant that he would get the truth out of him eventually, he was just that persistent.

"Flash, what's going on?"

"Nothing, everything's fine."

"Obviously, it's not. Something has you worried, what is it?"

Flash felt nervous. More nervous than he had in a long, long time. It was so bad that he not only was starting to feel sick, but he also began to vibrate. He did not want to be having this conversation, especially not with captain doom and gloom.

"You need to tell me what's going on right now," Batman demanded.

Flash knew he could just run out of there and Batman wouldn't even see him leave. But he knew he couldn't just flee, he needed help finding Giganta and as unfortunate as it might be, Batman might be the best hope he had of finding her, especially if he knew this Emmylou person.

But that meant he had to tell him.

"She abducted someone!" Flash blurted out. He stopped vibrating, but he still felt sick.

"Who's been abducted?" Batman questioned. "Family?"

"Nono," Flash said, shaking his head in a blur.

"Then who?"

"I can't say."

"Then I can't help."

"Her name's Gina," Flash blurted out, using the fake name he had previously introduced her to Iris and Barry with.

"Are you romantically involved?"

"Yes, kind of," Flash answered, unsure what exactly to call it. He had strong feelings for her, he himself would call it love, and they had gone out on dates, but it hadn't really had the chance to evolve beyond that. He hoped they got the chance. All he had to do was find her.

"Does she know both of your identities?" Batman questioned, further.

He cast his gaze down to the deck plate. Did he tell her, or not.

"I'll take that as a yes," Batman said.

"Yes," he confirmed. He had already gone through this particular conversation with Iris and Barry, he certainly didn't want to have it again with Batman.

"Do I have to remind you of how important it is to keep your identities separate? Your actions may have been what led to her being abducted in the first place."

Flash was going to respond when the door slid open and Shayera stepped in. She looked at them both, before focusing on Flash. "I heard you wanted to talk to me, but looks like you're busy."

Flash didn't say anything. Instead, it was Batman who addressed Shayera, "Flash believes that a close female friend has been abducted."

She looked from Batman to the speedster. "This isn't the person you told me about earlier, is it?"

Flash nodded.

Shayera looked back to Batman. "I can help him with this, you don't have to worry yourself about it."

The Dark Knight's eyes narrowed. "There's something going on here, what is it?"

"What makes you say that?" Shayera questioned.

"Firstly, Flash calls the Watchtower in distress and wants to only speak with you," he said to her. "Now he's up here still being evasive. Now you come in and he seems to be calming down. There is something going on here and it would be best if you tell me before I find out on my own."

Shayera and Flash exchanged a glance.

"You want to tell him?" Shayera asked the speedster.

Flash didn't want to, but he knew he had to. "Gina is Giganta," he revealed, his voice barely making it over a whisper.

"Your evasiveness makes sense now," Batman said calmly. A little too calmly after what he had just been told.

"You're not angry?" Flash questioned, hopefully.

"I'm furious," Batman admitted, "but acting out on it won't solve this case. You believe she was abducted by Emmylou Brown. Any indication as to why?"

"No, none."

"When did she disappear?" Shayera asked him.

Flash moved to the side and gestured to the computer monitor. "She left a diner yesterday evening and was followed by her," he said, indicating the blonde on the screen.

"I know you don't want to hear this, but are you sure she didn't join her voluntarily?" Shayera asked.

"No, from the footage, Giganta was in a hurry," Flash explained quickly. "She moved into an alleyway, while the blonde, who Batman identified as Emmylou Brown took a different route, probably to cut her off."

Batman looked back at the screen. "Did you see anyone else suspicious on the security tapes?" he questioned.

"Not really,"

"What does 'not really' mean?" Batman asked.

"There was this purple haired woman in a really unusual pink dress. She stood out, but she didn't seem to be involved, not from what I could see from the limited time she was on the feeds."

Batman's eyes narrowed. "Show me this part of the footage."

"It's about twenty minutes after Giganta headed into the alleyway," Flash said, moving the footage forward. He then stopped it and played the woman in question with the purple hair and pink dress, with a golden lining. She walked passed the alleyway nonchalantly.

Batman stepped closer to the screen. "How many angles do you have?"

"Three, but she only appears in this one."

"Show me the other ones."

Flash complied, showing the Dark Knight and Shayera the footage from around the same time.

"Where are the other camera's in relation to the one you showed us initially."

Shayera was slightly confused. "Why does that matter?"

Flash, however, caught on to what he meant. "You're right, she would have had to pass at least one of these other camera's, there's no other way around unless she came out of one of the buildings."

"She didn't," Batman said firmly.

"How do you know?" Shayera asked.

"Because that's Circe, I would recognise her anywhere. If she's involved in the disappearance of Giganta, then she might be in real danger. That is unless she has joined them in whatever it is they are doing."

"She hasn't," Flash said adamantly. "She wouldn't do that, not now, not anymore."

"Are you sure about that?" Batman said, unconvinced.

"Can you just not do this for one second," Flash said heatedly. "She might be in danger right now and your negative attitude really isn't helping anything."

"And giving away your secret identity to her did?" Batman retorted. "What if she has been abducted and uses that information to bargain for her freedom?"

"She wouldn't do that."

"Wouldn't she?"

Flash looked away. He knew Batman was right, there was a chance that she would. He wanted to believe that she wouldn't give his identity up to save herself, but was he just fooling himself? "I don't know, alright," he said finally.

Shayera reached out and rested a comforting hand on his shoulder. "Maybe we should focus on finding out what happened, instead of berating Flash over a mistake he made in telling her his secret. We need to find her regardless of whether she's gone bad or not. If she has, then we can hold her here on the Watchtower.

"But only if she's bad," Flash amended. He then rubbed the back of his neck. "So, does anyone know where to start looking?"

Batman looked back at the paused image of Circe. "Neither Emmylou Brown or Circe have any known haunts and Circe has no registered addresses in her name. Emmylou disappeared after she was released from prison. Which means we have no leads apart from that alleyway. I suggest we start there."

"I've already looked," Flash said.

Batman turned for the door. "I haven't."

"I'm coming too," Shayera said.

Batman stopped, looking back at her. "You're injured."

"My wing is injured," she pointed out. "And last time I checked you don't have any. If I can't go because of an injured wing, then you can't because you don't have any."

"Not the point. You still have an injury that could be exacerbated."

"I'll exacerbate your face in a minute," Shayera threatened. "I need to stretch my legs and looking at an alleyway won't cripple me."

"No, but Circe might turn you into a pigeon if she's there."

"Why does she do that kind of thing?" Shayera inquired before she realised something. "Hold on, was this Circe the one that turned Diana into a pig that one time?"

Batman didn't answer. He just turned and left the room. Flash retrieved the discs with the security footage on them, before following with Shayera by his side.

Central City

United States

14:21 – Central Standard Time

March 17, 2007

Batman was sat squatting in the alleyway, running his hand along the concrete. Stood a few metres behind him was Flash and Shayera, watching him as he studied the scene where Flash had found Giganta's phone.

"Have you found anything?" Flash questioned in agitation.

Batman stood up. "A body was dragged from here," he said gesturing to where he was stood, "to over there," he said, pointing to a more secluded corner of the alleyway."

Flash gulped. "Body?"

"Yes, either unconscious or otherwise, someone was dragged over there." Batman moved over to where he had gestured to.

"How do you know someone was dragged?" Shayera asked.

"Scuff marks from shoes scraped off onto the concrete."

After looking around for a few moments, Batman turned back to them. "Nothing," he said. "She was taken from here by other means and judging that no one has reported seeing someone being carried away, it's probably that Circe moved them somewhere by magical teleportation."

"Is there Anyway to find out where?" Flash asked, rubbing his palms together. He hated this. He just wanted to find her and to get back home.

"Anywhere that's within her range," Batman replied.

"And what's her range? I'll search the whole city if I have too."

"It could be fifty miles, it could be a thousand," Batman told him. "We have no way of knowing."

"I'll search the whole nation, then," Flash said.

"You seriously going to search the whole US?" Shayera asked sceptically. "That's a big undertaking, even for you."

"I would advise against it," Batman added. "Firstly you cannot search everywhere and secondly, there's no guarantee they're still even in this dimension. I don't know the extent of Circe's powers."

"Then what do you suggest we do?" Flash demanded.

Batman thought for a moment before answering, "I'll contact Zatanna, see if she can get anything. She might be able to trace where they went."

"Hurry up, we need to find her," Flash urged.

Batman quickly contacted Zatanna and only mentioned that they were looking for Circe. Roughly five minutes after making the call, Zatanna had teleported down from the Watchtower and got to work. Over the next ten minutes, she stood speaking strange incantations towards the wall, before she finally turned to them to speak.

"I cannot trace it, it was too long ago and the spell was definitely not amateur," Zatanna informed them. "Considering it was Circe I'm not surprised I can't trace it."

Flash cracked his knuckles. "It looks like I'm going for a run, then."

"That would take hours, even for you," Batman objected. "And you are not equipped to deal with Circe, even if you found them. Both me and Zatanna were unable to take her down when we were fighting her together, so I doubt you'd stand a chance."

"Who did Circe kidnap anyway?" Zatanna questioned.

Batman answered before Flash could stop him. "Giganta is the one that's missing and Flash is in a relationship with her."

"Pretty risky," Zatanna commented, looking to the speedster in surprise.

"Yeah, yeah whatever," Flash said annoyed. "Judge all you want, I just want to find her before Circe does something to her."

"I'm not judging you," Zatanna assured him. "I wish you luck in finding her. If you need more help, don't hesitate to call me."

Flash shrugged and shook his head. "I have no idea if I will need help or not. I have no leads apart from Circe and this Emmylou and we have no idea where to find them."

"We'll find her," Shayera promised.

"But where do we even start?" Flash asked.

"Simple," Batman began, "If we don't know where Emmylou Brown and Circe are now, then perhaps we can find out where they have been. I will start checking police, CIA, FBI and other records on any known hangouts of Emmylou and known sightings since she was released from prison. I will also check to see if she had any properties in her name, rented or otherwise."

Flash smiled. "Thanks, Bats. Behind that scary costume is a big soft heart."

"Don't push your luck," Batman warned.

Batman mentioning looking into Emmylou Brown's history gave Zatanna an idea. "While you're doing that, I think I might check my contacts for anything on Circe."

"And I'll offer emotional support," Shayera added.

"Thanks, everyone," Flash said appreciatively.

"You can thank us later," Batman said. "Now let's get to work."

Updated December 2017