Chapter Four
When Diana had first heard the title "Oracle", she expected to find herself in some opulent building, possibly similar to that of her home on Themyscira.
She was surprised, however, to find herself standing outside the door of a floor level apartment with the name "B. Gordon" written on the mail box.
She knocked on the door, despite her surprise, hoping that the person behind it would have some answers.
The door opened, revealing the owner of the apartment to be rather beautiful, red haired woman seated in a wheelchair. Bright green eyes peered at Diana through a pair of reading glasses, and a smile played on her face.
"Can I help you?" The woman asked.
"I, uh..." Diana trailed off, unsure of what to say. "My name is Diana. I understand that the two of us have a mutual friend?"
The woman looked at her curiously, cocking he head to the side before giving her a quick once over.
"Diana... Oh!" She exlcaimed suddenly. "Oh, yeah! I'm sorry, I didn't recognize you. Come on in!"
The woman backed up before turning into the apartment, letting Diana follow suit.
The apartment reminded Diana of what a college dorm would look like, though much more clean. There were a couple pennants tacked to the wall with "Gotham University" printed across them in bright white letters. Photographs of the woman and a familiar face adorned the walls as well.
Jim Gordon. Commissioner of the Gotham City Police.
"Can I get you anything? Coffee? Tea?" The woman asked, making her way into the kitchen before pausing. "Oh, wait, I'm sorry, I haven't introduced myself. Barbara Gordon." She extended a hand, which Diana shook firmly.
"A pleasure to meet you, Barbara. I'm sorry to barge in like this, but I've run into a bit of trouble. Alfred said you could help me with it."
"It's no trouble." Barbara replied. "I, uh... I heard about Bruce. Is he doing ok?"
"He's recovering well." Diana said. "That's actually why I'm here. How much do you know about what happened?"
"Only what Dick and Alfred have told me." Barbara replied before pausing again. "Oh, right. Dick is a friend of Bruce's. He's away on a trip to Metropolis right now, so you probably won't get the chance to properly meet him. Anyways, I know what happened. They were saying that someone tried to take him out from the other building."
"Yes," Diana confirmed. "That is the shortened version of it. Alfred and I both believe that these people, or at least one of them, knows Bruce personally."
"Hmm... That's going to complicate things. But what are the leads we have so far?"
"I know for sure that one of them is holding a grudge against Bruce. He told me that Bruce has 'had this coming'. He wears this red helmet, and he knew where Bruce hid his hard drive with all of Gotham's criminal files. On top of that, he found a way to crash Bruce's computer."
Barbara seemed in awe that someone had managed to preform such a feat. But she nodded at Diana's words and began wheeling herself towards her bedroom.
Diana followed, watching as the woman opened up her closet doors and rolled inside.
What took on the appearance of a simple closet was actually a decent sized alcove packed with computer monitors and a large keyboard. It was similar to how Bruce had his computers set up in the cave, though much more compact.
Taped to the edge of one of the computer monitors was a photograph of four people standing outside of Wayne Manor. A younger boy, looking to be about 15, with dark hair and bright green eyes, was having his hair ruffled up by a taller young man. Barbara stood in the corner of the shot, clearly being the one taking the photo. In the background stood Bruce with the biggest, most prideful smile Diana had ever seen.
Barbara caught her gaze, and a smile of her own formed.
"I took that almost 10 years ago." She explained, typing away at her keyboard. "Things were a lot more simple back then. Back when it was just me, Dick, and Jason..." She paused before shaking her head with a sigh.
"Is Jason the youngest one?" Diana asked.
"Yeah. He took on the Robin persona when Dick decided to go his own way. And-." Barbara stopped herself, looking up at Diana. "I'm sorry, this must be confusing for you... How much has Bruce told you?"
"He's told me that he's taken on a couple 'students' in the past. Nothing much past that." Diana explained. "I know of the names Nightwing, Robin, and Batgirl. But I know nothing of the faces behind them."
"Well, here's the rundown. So far, there have been three people to take on the name Robin. Dick was the first, and when he got older he took on the name Nightwing. He and Bruce had a bit of a falling out, but they're patching up. Jason was the next one. Then, after him, Tim took up the mantel. After a while he decided to go on his own. Made his own team, even. Now it's just an empty suit, waiting to be filled again. As for Batgirl..." Barbara paused, her gaze falling into her lap for a moment. "She grew up. Realized just how cruel people can be. How cruel the world can be, even... But she got back up again, and kicked the world right in the teeth. Just in her own way."
Diana couldn't help the small, sympathetic smile that she had when Barbara explained the last bit of the story. She could tell that Barbara was all that she had said, and so much more.
"So the Batgirl became the Oracle." Diana concluded. "And what of Jason? You never mentioned him aside from name."
Barbara suddenly went quiet, her hands resting on the keys of the keyboard.
"He... Didn't get the chance to go on to do anything."
Diana understood the implications by Barbara's tone. When she reached a hand out in comfort, Barbara merely shook her head.
"Anyways, you needed me to find the backup footage from that camera?" She said, returning he attention to the computer.
Diana nodded and watched as the woman worked her magic. It was interesting to see just how quickly she could find what she needed.
Sure enough, she found the footage she was looking for.
Barbara replayed the footage, trying to get a good look at what had happened.
"So, what did you want me to do?" Barbara asked.
"I want to see if we could possibly identify the man with the sniper rifle on his back. It's obvious that the masked man can't be identified, but any lead I can get will send me in the right direction."
Barbara nodded, putting the footage into a video editing software.
She caught the exact frame that the Sniper locked eyes with the camera. As she worked to enhance the photo, Diana felt her heart sink.
No... It couldn't be. It was impossible!
The image staring back at her was the face of a man she had once held close to her. A man who's eyes used to be so full of light and hope.
But now...
Diana didn't realize just how much seeing his face again would phase her. She gripped the back of Barbara's chair, unintentionally digging her fingers into the upholstery.
Barbara printed off the still from the footage, handing it to Diana. "There you go. One creepy villain, fit for a mugshot." She said, trailing off when she saw just how still the Amazon had become. "Diana?"
Diana shook her head, taking the photo from her. Maybe it was just a coincidence. Maybe it was a descendant of his? Or, even just someone that looked like him.
Either way, Diana knew that she had I find a way to confront this man.
"Is there a way you could figure out his name?" She asked Barbara.
"I can run a facial recognition scan against Gotham's registered criminals. I can even go a bit farther and pull from the FBI's Most Wanted list, but that will take some time."
"How long?"
"About a day. Maybe two, if I run into too many firewalls. If everything runs smoothly, I should have it done by tomorrow morning. It really depends."
"Keep me posted, then." Diana said, quickly jotting down her phone number on a sticky note and handing it to Barbara. "I'll try and pick up some more leads in the meantime."
With that, Diana folded up the photograph she'd been given and tucked it away in her jacket pocket.
She made her way back out to her motorcycle, not missing a single beat as she started it up and took to the road.
It was a lot to take in.
The idea that he was somehow alive after all this time was impossible. Even if by some miracle he survived the explosion, he would've died a long time ago like Charlie and the others.
The idea that this man could be a descendant of his was still up in the air. The resemblance was there, but...
Diana just didn't know what to make of all of this.
As she became lost in her thoughts, she made sure to take the first on ramp to get into the freeway.
"Maybe Bruce has an idea," Diana thought to herself, noting that the hospital was only a couple of exits away. It wouldn't hurt to stop in and check on him.
As she continued her ride, Diana suddenly noticed a group of motorcyclists coming up along both sides of her. At first, she didn't think much of it. But then, she noticed that they were forming a ring around her and closing in tightly.
Diana narrowed her eyes, trying to think of what she could do to get out of this situation.
There was one other car ahead of her. It wasn't the best idea, but anything was better than being sandwiched by group that clearly wanted to cause her harm.
She sped up just enough to catch up with the car. And then, with all of her strength, she launched herself from the bike.
She landed on the roof of the car, surprising even herself by the fact that she didn't damage it. She could hear the shouts of the occupants from inside the vehicle, clearly startled by the sounds of her landing.
Before she could issue and apology, she looked back to see one of the men reaching for a gun.
Diana's eyes widened, and she quickly got down as the man opened fire.
The car she was standing on skidded to a stop, and Diana found herself rolling across the top of it and landing on the pavement.
Inside the car, she could see a father frantically grabbing for his child in the back seat.
Without hesitation, Diana unzipped her backpack and hooked her shield around her arm. She let the bag drop to the ground and dashed towards the family in need.
Forgetting to hold back her strength, she ripped the car door off of it's hinges, giving the father enough time to grab for his daughter and make a run for it.
A rain of gunfire came down on Diana's shield as she covered the family. She rushed them along, trying to get them to safety. Traffic had become absolute chaos as others began feeling their vehicles for safety.
"Go with them!" Diana ordered the father. "Get yourselves to safety. Call someone to come get you."
"Thank you, Miss." The father gasped, nearly on the brink of tears as he clutched his daughter to his chest. "Thank you so much!"
Diana nodded, noting the awestruck face of the little girl in his arms.
"Daddy... That's Wonder Woman!" The little girl exclaimed.
Before Diana could respond, there was another barrage of gunfire, and both her and the father knew it was time to go.
The father rushed forte nearest offramp, following the crowd of people that were fleeing.
Turning on her heel, Diana kept a tight hold on her shield and rushed towards the group of men that were attacking her.
There were ten of them, all dressed in the same black combat armor that the two men from the previous night had worn. Each of them had some form of assault weapon, and had their faces masked.
It would be a bit of a struggle, but Diana knew she could take them on.
She reached for her lasso clasped on one of her belt loops, and let it unfurl with a loud cracking noise.
She gave the men a look that said one thing.
'Come and get me'.
The men opened fire again, leading to Diana lifting up her shield I defense. The bullets ricocheted off of her shield, embedding themselves into the abandoned cars.
Finally, Diana had had enough.
She took one glace over her shield, trying to get a good look at whoever was closest.
When she finally found her target, she whipped her lasso out and watched as it latched around his arm.
The man dropped his gun, and with a sharp tug he went flying towards Diana.
She immediately swiped at him with her shield, bashing him into the concrete median beside her and rending him unconscious.
She wanted to make sure at least one of them remained coherent enough for interrogation. But this group had intended to harm innocents. Justice had to be served.
She continued to take out the remaining men, using her lasso to close the distance between her and them, and then smacking into them with either her shield or a well placed punch.
The fight was far from easy, but she held her own.
Just as she had planned, there was one left to get her answers from.
He attempted to crawl back to his feet, but once again he found himself in the snare of Diana's lasso.
He was dragged towards her, and witnessed a look of anger that rivalled anything he'd seen from his superiors.
Diana reached down, grabbing him by the collar and yanking him to his feet.
"Who are you?" She hissed. "Why are you trying to kill me?"
The man attempted to remain silent, but the glow from the lasso and the burning pain that dug into his leg told him that he had no choice.
"I... I was sent to track you down." The man grunted out, fighting against the lasso's compulsion. "My... My boss wanted you taken out. He wants all of the 'Metahumans' that have been popping up to be taken care of."
"Who?" Diana snapped. "Who is your boss? Who are you working for?!"
"We're a part of the League of Assassin's!" The man confessed. "Our leader is Ra's al Ghul. He sends us out when he feels like people are going to become a problem. If they're a problem, we take them out. That's all I know, I swear!"
"And what about the other two?" Diana asked. "The assassin sent to kill Bruce Wayne, and the red hooded man? Are they a part of this 'League of Assassin's'?"
"Yes... They're indebted to Ra's. He holds it over their heads; makes them do his dirty work. They're his top assassins."
"And who are they?"
"The boys call the sniper Zeitgeist. It's German. They say that's where Ra's picked him up. And the other one calls himself Red Hood."
"I need names. Not code names"
"I... I can't..." The lasso's hold tightened around him. The pain was unbearable.
And then, just when he couldn't take it anymore, the sound of a gunshot met Diana's ears.
Her ears rung for a moment, and blood splattered across her face. She dropped the now dead man to the ground, turning to face the man who had murdered him.
Standing before her was the Sniper. The man known as the Zeitgeist.
He was holding a pistol in his hand, directing it now at Diana.
"I don't know who you are," Diana said, gripping her shield tightly. "But you will answer for what you did to my friend."
The Sniper remained silent, firing off his gun again. Diana brought up her arm to deflect the bullet with her bracelet, watching as it embedded itself in the Sniper's arm.
With a momentary distraction, Diana brought up her shield and rushed at the man.
She collided into him, sending him flying into the median. The chance of him falling over the side of the ramp was unavoidable. Diana had to act fast.
She grabbed a hold of him, pinning his arms to the side and using her shield to cusion their fall as the toppled into the street below.
The Sniper was dazed for a moment, giving Diana the opportunity to land an punch square into his jaw.
Without a moment's hesitation, Diana slipped her fingers into his facemask.
"No more games," She hissed. "Now let's see who you really are."
She got a good grip, only to suddenly have a fist strike into her gut and send her tumbling off of the man.
He took this opportunity to regain his footing, but it was already too late.
His face mask clattered to the ground, and Diana rolled over to look up at the man that had been evading her.
All of a sudden, everything seemed to freeze. Diana felt as if her heart had stopped, and her breath caught in her throat as she finally saw the man with her own two eyes. Not behind the guise of a mask. Not through a blurry video camera.
Now he was standing before her, in flesh and blood.
"Steve?"
A/N: So, yeah, I'll bet none of you saw that coming. (Obvious sarcasm is obvious. ;) ) I do want to apologize for this update taking a little bit longer. My wifi is down at my house at the moment, so a lot of this writing was in chunks. Anyways, I hope you guys enjoyed, and I hope you'll tune into the next chapter where more of this big mystery unfolds! Until then, I want to thank you all for your reviews and continuous support!