Downtime Part 2: Together

Gotham City: 6:17am, August 27th, 2010:

P.O.V Change: Ghost Rider

"Come here!" I shout as I swing a chain but hit nothing. A blob of brown clay hits my face as I am sent flying into the wall. The crack of the wall forms as a piece drops on my head. "Oww." I say as I feel Matthew groan. "Can't you be more careful?" He asks as I just growl in response. I see Kaldur'ahm is sent skidding across the ground and thumps against the wall. Everyone else is out of it, completely knocked out. The clay monster simply known as Clayface walks into the light as the skylight shatters, revealing Batman. He throws two batarangs which sink into Clayface and explode, blowing his left arm off. Batman lands and dodges out of the way as Clayface tries to crush him. Batman fires a taser at Clayface which makes him scream in agony and drop down into a clay puddle. "That was easy." Matthew says as I push the rubble off my head and walk over to the group. Batman narrows his eyes at Aqualad and at me, oh boy.

Mount Justice:

P.O.V Change: Matthew Spectre

"I need to talk to Aqualad and Ghost Rider." Batman says as we walk out of the zeta tube. "The rest of you, hit the showers and head home." Batman continues as Superboy gestures his arms open. "I am home." He says as he walks past Batman. Kaldur and I stand in front of Batman, I notice that Robin is also here. "Just Aqualad and Ghost Rider." Batman says as he narrows his eyes at Robin. Robin looks at us before walking off, leaving us with the Caped Crusader. "You first, Kaldur." Batman says, Kaldur hangs his head low. "I am sorry you had to intervene. I know the team performed poorly and-." He doesn't finish as Batman interrupts. "The team performed adequately. The problem was you. You're their leader and your head wasn't in the game." Batman says as Kaldur perks up. "No, you are-." He doesn't finish as I nudge him in the ribs. He looks at me while I give him a knowing look. He sighs before turning to Batman. "You're correct. Of late, I am not even convinced I belong on the surface world. The mission with we had to the Tower of Fate has made me question my faith in myself. With the Rider fallout, I had the opinion that I could have done better and while it isn't a good enough excuse, it is the truth. I don't know if I am really ready to lead this team or be on the surface. I have...doubts." Kaldur says quietly as I can feel the self disappointment and sadness at himself after my...episode. I put my hand on his shoulder as he looks at me. I give him a comforting gaze. It's alright mate. "Your doubts are what makes you a good leader. To know when you believe you have made a mistake, it's your rates and friends that are there to make sure that you are pulled back from the brink. You have home fever Kaldur, he want to go to Altantis, that is your right. You can split your time between the surface and sea but your mind has to be in the here and now. Either you are here 100 percent...or you walk away. It's that simple...make a decision before someone makes it for you." Batman says as Kaldur hangs his head. "I need to speak with Matthew, give us the room." He says to Kaldur who nods and heads to the common area of the mountain.

Batman pulls a switch and clicks it, a transparent bubble forms around us as I look around. "What's this?" I ask. "Sound absorbing and diverting Bubble. This was made by myself and Superman for conversation that requires absolute secrecy. Now, tell me about this Jade Nguyen." He says as I prepare myself. "Jade is Artemis's sister, she was the one that was hired to assassinate Dr Roquette a few weeks ago and she and myself have been in correspondence for the past month." I say as Batman narrows his eyes. "You have been in contact with a criminal and an assassin for over a month and you did not think to tell me." He says angrily as I raise my hands. "I was going too. The first night that we met up, I was going to tell you. But she approaches me about keeping an eye on Artemis." I say as Batman just stares at me. "Myself, Artemis and Jade already met about two years, during the gala. Artemis already had a run in with Zarathos, which is how she got the scar on her stomach. For about a year, I tracked her but I wasn't able to find her, not until Jade approached me. She asked me to find her and report back to her about her sister." I say. "Why would she do that? Why would she go herself?" He asks. "Jade believes that coming back into Artemis life will not only ruin her standing in the Shadows, plus she felt that Artemis was better off without her." I say. "How can you know that? Did she tell you?" He asks as I shake my head. "She didn't need to. Zarathos can read souls and feelings, you can't lie to him. After meeting, I thought what the hell, I've been trying to find Artemis for about two years anyway so it wouldn't be too bad. So every few days, I would go to Gotham, after finding where Artemis was staying, and check on her. I would come back and find Jade in my apartment and we would talk and I would tell her about Artemis and that was it." I say as Batman hmms. "But a few days ago, during my episode, she approached me at my apartment. I wasn't in the mood and we fought. I didn't bother fighting fully and she was just trying to make sure that I didn't break her in half. After a while, she told me that coming to talk to me about Artemis wasn't the only thing that she wanted to talk about." I say.

Batman narrows his eyes. "Go on." He says. "After we fought, we went back to her hideout. She showed me that her father, Sportsmaster is meeting up with Ra's Al Ghul." I say as Batman's eyes widen slightly. "I thought as too why he would be there, besides being a mercenary but I thought about it. He had some how acquired the Blockbuster formula from Cadmus. He sent it to Santa Prisca to mix it with Venom to create the Kobra Venom and now he's meeting up with the leader of the Shadows. It seemed like it was too much of a coincidence." I say to him. "Jade wants an escape out of the Shadows. She approached me because I'm, supposedly, the only one that she "can" trust at the moment. She wants to gather Intel and report it back to me. She is offering to be a mole within the Shadows." I say as Batman turns and ponders. "How can you be sure she's trust worthy?" He asks as I shrug. "Knowing you for how long I have. You really shouldn't trust anyone. But her soul doesn't lie, she wants an out and a guarantee at a pardon." I say to him as he turns sharply. "A pardon? You already agreed to this?" He says as he gets in my face. "No, of course not. I told her that I don't have that weight but you do." I say as he straightens his back. "Our enemies are getting smarter and stronger, Bruce. Something is happening that we are not seeing. A bigger picture is being formed and we haven't see the whole canvas. Having Jade as an informant while be crucial if things start to go south. We don't know what or who we are fighting against. 'You need are available assets to combat an unseen enemy', remember that lesson?" I say to him as he turns to me.

"You believe that you can make this work?" He asks a I nod my head. Silence for a few moments. "Fine. If she delivers vital intel on the Shadows and whoever else, and we are able to catch them, then yes...she will have her pardon and guarantee." He says as I nod my head. "I am trusting you to see this through to the end." He says as he lowers the bubble and walks away. I take out my burner phone when he leaves and send a message to Jade.

'We need to meet. I have his answer.'

'Where?'

'Your place, see you soon.'

I text her as I get back is a wink emoji. Very funny, Jade. Very funny, I think to myself with annoyance as I walk over and get on my bike and head out of the cave towards her place.

Jade's Hideout:

I rock up to the abandoned warehouse and send her a text.

'Open up.'

'You forgot to say please.'

I roll my eyes. Fine.

'Please.'

'That's better.'

The floor opens as I stroll down the stairs as the lights turn on. The floor closes over the top of me as I enter the living area. "Please? Really?" I ask as i spot her on the couch, just laying lazily. "Good manners can take you far." She says as I just scoff. "You never had manners when you barged into my apartment." I say. "Tomato. Tomato." She says as she stands and walks over to me. "What did he say?" She asks while crossing her arms. "Well, for starters. He didn't like that we knew each other. If I want able to alm him down, I'm sure he would have knocked my teeth out." I say as she laughs. "That's really funny. Go on." I nod my head. "I explained to him your situation and what you plan on doing. While he didn't like the idea, he had issues with trust. I simply told him that I have a skill set which makes me see if a person is lying or not." I say as she tilts her head. "I can read souls Jade. When you explained to me you're plan, I read your soul to make sure that you were being true and not playing me for a fool." I say as she steps closer to me. "I should be mad by the deep invasion of privacy but I understand. I would be naive to believe that you wouldn't take precautions." She says as I nod. "I had to make sure that it was genuine. I'm sorry." I say as she waves me off. "It's alright, you did want you had to do."

I nod in thanks and continue. "Batman is on board with your plan but he wants vital information, he wants something solid about Ra's and who ever he's meeting with." I say as she nods. "Risk and reward. I'll will have to be in deep to get that information." She says as I step closer to her. "Batman and I agreed that you would have to do a lot of bad stuff to be in as deep as possible to get the information. While he doesn't like it, he is prepared for the necessary action." I say. Now we get to the personal stuff. "Plus, he wants a detailed report of everything that we talk about when we meet up. And I mean everything." I say as she smiles seductively and presses against me, she trails two fingers up my chest as she stares up at me. "Everything?" She asks. It's taking all my willpower to stand perfectly still. "...maybe not everything." I say as she laughs before a serious expression forms on her face.

"I can not express to you how much I appreciate your help. If I want to anyone else, they would have put me in prison and thrown away the key. Not even bother to hear me out." She says as I lean my head down. "I'm not like everyone else." I say as she smiles up at me and whispers. "No, you are not." Our lips mash together as I pull her in as close as she can get. Her arms wrap around my neck as I lift her up. "How long do we have?" She asks. "It's our downtime. We have all day." I say teasingly to her as she smiles. "Good, let's make it worthwhile." She says as I she kisses me as I carry her into her room. What a good way to spend my downtime.

Later:

Jade falls beside me as she gets her breathing back. "How can you go as long as you do?" She asks as I smile. "Perks of being a Ghost Rider, I suppose. I never really get tired." I say as she moves close to me and rest her head on my chest. "Must be a pretty good. Too have so much stamina." She says seductively as I look at her. "Want to go again?" I ask as she playfully slaps my chest. "No, I'm fucking done. I'll going to be walking jelly legged for the rest tod the week." She says as she rolls over and I follow her, spooning her and bringing her in close. "At least you know what your getting from my visits." I say teasingly as she smirks at me. "Oh, that I already know. You are very satisfying. And since I'm underground, it does get cold. Good thing I have you as a furnace to keep me warm." She says as I smile and place little kisses along her neck. She moans as I find one of her spots. This is only the second time that we've had sex, and in all that time, I've been able to find four pleasure spots that sends her into a frenzy. This is one of those spots. She moans wantonly as I trail my hand up her stomach and onto her breast. She grips my arm tightly, I lean over her and place a kiss on her lips, she quickly invites my tongue in as she forces me on my back. "If we keep going, I won't walk for a month so instead, we'll do something else." She says seductively as she moves down my legs and pulls the cover over her head as my eyes widen at her idea. Ok, we're going there.

Much, much later:

Jade fits into the crook of my torso, hooking her leg over mine, her hand and head lie softly on my chest, I watch her as she raises softly in tune with my breathing. Watching her sleep, she looks so peaceful. Everytime I see her, I always see that she's worried, nervous, angry, or in my case, aroused about something. She doesn't have any peaceful moments to herself but here and now, she's almost like the weight of the world has been taken off her shoulders, like all the pain, all the memories that have left a mark...they all fall away, leaving her with just...happiness and peace. My thoughts and observation is broken when I hear a pinging, I roll over and see my ear piece on the bedside table. I carefully remove myself from her as I get up and put my pants back on. I pick up the ear piece and fit it in my ear, turning it on in the process. "Yeah?" I ask as I hear Kaldur on the line. "Matt, Batman has a mission for us, we need you back at the cave as soon as possible." He says as I turn off the ear piece, pick up my clothes and get dressed. "Leaving so soon?" I hear Jade say as I look over at her, gazing at me. "Aqualad called. Batman has a mission." I say as I zip up my jacket and walk over to her and kneel down. "When will I see you?" She says as I trace my fingers over her cheek. "I don't know... please be safe." I say as she smiles and takes my hand and leaves a kiss on my knuckles. "I promise." She says as I lean over rand kiss her on the lips before leaving.

I walk out of her home as I get on the bike. Everything that happens from this point forward is going to change the entire field. We aren't playing games anymore, this is serious and if it fails, then the consequences will be dire. "Your feel something for this woman?" I hear Zarathos say as I ponder about it. "Everything in my body is telling me that I shouldn't...but yes. I do fell something for her." I say as I start the bike. I head back to the cave as my mind is being pulled into two different ways. I care about Jade, maybe something else, but I don't want my knowledge of her to affect the team. To keep in the dark is something that I don't want to do but her cover would be better protected if everyone fought her with no knowledge of her infiltration. I don't know what I've gotten myself into. I thought I was prepared for this, but I realize that no one can prepare for this.

Mount Justice:

Night:

I arrive at the cave as I enter the zeta hanger. Everyone is present including Batman. "We've been waiting." He says as I glance at him. "Sorry. Got stuck in traffic." I say as everyone par Batman chuckles a little. "You all have had your time to yourself and with everyone now on board." Batman says as he glances at Kaldur. "It's time to focus. The Watchtower has detected an immense power surge in the Bialian Desert. Your mission is to covertly detect the reason of the surge and report back. Maintain radio silence the whole team. Bialya is a rogue nation, we do not want a political mess to come about from this." Batman says as the Bialian Desert is expanded on the hologram screen. Great, a desert. What could go wrong?