It was strange coming to Wayne Manor in the dead of night. It wasn't that Batgirl hadn't done it before, but this time she didn't have access to the Batcave. That would be changing when the house was finished, though she wasn't exactly sure when that would happen.
The mansion itself was covered in scaffolding, primarily on the rear side. The backyard was a giant dirt patch, but that was the plan. They had to make certain the foundation was solid before construction could begin, so the cratered ground had to be filled in and smoothed out. She at least understood there was little point in restoring the house if it was going to fall into a cavern.
The last she had seen of the mansion, the backside of the house had been torn off and pulled into the crater. The construction people had erected a rather cheap-looking wall to take the place of the one that had ripped off. It was not a good look for the century's old manor.
Because Bluebird and Spoiler followed her here, Batgirl couldn't use the front door, or at least use the key to the door. She wouldn't raise questions this way. No, she was going to have to break into her own home. So she made a show of searching for an entrance before settling on a side door. It was called a servant's entrance, according to her father. Considering they didn't have a lot of servants, she wondered why.
Picking the lock, she led her team into the manor. They were in a long hallway, a couple of wooden doors on either side of it. Now they just needed to find the gun safe. There were only a couple of places she could think to look, but she couldn't look as if she knew where to go exactly. There wasn't a google search with the ans—
"Hey, do you know where Thomas Wayne's office is?" Spoiler asked. That was a rather…abrupt question. Turning her head, Batgirl nearly snarled at the smartphone the girl held, the light from the screen lighting up her face. Did this girl seriously want to blow their cover here?!
"What are you—" she began to reprimand.
Spoiler suddenly held the phone to her face, cutting her off yet again. There was a picture of the office in particular, one that Batgirl knew, and in fact had been in. "The gun found at Wayne Tower belonged to Thomas Wayne, right? Maybe it was kept with his stuff?"
That…was a good point actually. So instead of following through with her angry reprimand, she demurely said, "Turn the light down. We don't need anyone spotting your phone."
Spoiler perked up at that, immediately clapping a hand down on the screen. "Oh, right." She seemed to shuffle where she stood in the hallway, looking for…Batgirl had no idea what she was looking for. It wasn't until Spoiler finally grabbed her cape and wrapped it around her that the dark-clad girl realized she was looking for a way to cover her phone so she could dim its light.
"So we're going to Thomas Wayne's office," Bluebird whispered. "Anyone know where that is?" For some reason, she was looking at Batgirl, forcing her to shake her head. The blue-haired girl stared at her before turning her gaze to Spoiler. "Does that say anything about where it is?"
Spoiler squinted her eyes at the phone screen. "This article says…the east wing? What wing are we in?"
"The west," Batgirl answered.
"And how do you know that?" Bluebird questioned.
She pointed her hand down the hall. "The ocean is that way. The ocean is to the east. We are on the opposite side of the manor."
"Oh. That makes sense."
There was a split second where Spoiler gave Bluebird an exasperated look. Batgirl wasn't certain what that was for. At least Spoiler had given her a way to go straight for the east wing, so she immediately began walking down the hallway.
It was awhile before they eventually found themselves in the foray. The entire way, Batgirl couldn't help but notice all of the flooring had been ripped out. Her father had mentioned doing some renovations while there was work being done to restore the mansion, but it was weird to see all of the carpet and wood flooring just gone, revealing solid rock. Large rocks had mortar glued between them, making up some odd-looking foundation.
"What exactly am I walking on?" Bluebird asked after a while. "This doesn't look like cement."
"They're pad stones," Spoiler answered. "With mortar, I think."
The blue-haired girl raised an eyebrow. "What the hell is a pad stone?"
"Think about it: they didn't have cement back when this place was built. They had to use something, so they either put a bunch of stones together, or they used wood posts to build the house on."
"And how do you know this?"
"My dad runs a trivial quiz show, remember? He always brings his work home and makes me go through it with him."
There was a pause. "You'd do well on Jeopardy, wouldn't you."
Leaving the foray and entering the east wing, Batgirl began making a show of opening every door, looking as if she were checking them before closing the door and moving onto the next room. Thankfully, her teammates got the hint and began doing the same thing. The sound of soft clicking and squeaky hinges filled the corridor for awhile.
And then they reached the right door. Opening it, Batgirl strode into the office, turning on her flashlight. "Finally," she heard Bluebird mutter. "Now where is that dumb gun safe."
There were only a few footsteps, but then Spoiler announced, "I think it's over here."
Turning her head, she saw the lavender-clad girl standing by a shelf. On the floor next to it was a towering safe, one that rose above Spoiler's head, indicating it was taller than her. It had a dial and handle on its face.
And in front of the safe was a collection of white dust, forming the top part of a footprint.
Someone had been in here.
Gripping the flashlight tightly, Batgirl strode towards the safe, coming to a stop in front of it, and then staring directly down at the partial footprint. She wanted to make certain it was caught on her camera feed. The computer at her own BatCave would help reconstruct it and give her an actual size and possible ID on what kind of shoe was worn. While it would have been better to have a complete footprint, she would take what she could get.
Next, she knelt down next to the print, pulling out a small plastic bag, a dime bag as it was called. She also held a small, metal scraper. Carefully, she scraped up a little of the white dirt and collected some of it. There was an analysis in its future.
Once she was done there, she looked up at the gun safe, only to notice a small hole in the dial. Someone had tampered with the lock, she just knew it. That hole had been made by a drill, one that allowed a camera to pass into the safe and allow a thief to find the correct combination to unlock it.
Faintly, she wondered if the thief had actually left the combination in place. Reaching a hand out, she grabbed the handle and turned it. With ease, it did and she was able to pull the door open. Apparently the odds were great that the thief left the combination in place.
She was greeted with the sight of several handguns placed carefully on a few shelves. On the walls were rifles and shotguns, weapons she hadn't ever known were kept in this house. They all didn't look like modern guns, though. There were designs on them that made them look…well…fancy, she guessed.
Each handgun was lying in a padded spot, one shaped into its likeness so that it rested in the bedding. One spot was missing, an empty silhouette of a gun was all that remained.
This was where that gun had come from.
But was this all that was taken?
"Spread out," Batgirl ordered. "Search the room. If there is anything that does not look right, tell me immediately." They were going to turn this into a crime scene, which it very well was with the theft of the gun. Unless that footprint matched a shoe belonging to her father, she now had proof that someone was out there, someone that broke into her home, took something that did not belong to them, and then used it to kill a woman, and used that woman's body to make it appear as if her father had done it.
And if they left this sort of evidence lying around, she wanted to know what else they had left.
"You did not control yourself, Damian."
The boy sulked. Talia merely gazed coolly at him. Honestly, she was disappointed. After all of the time she and the Order had spent training him, teaching him the way of the assassin, and what does he do? He attacks the first person he sees on a stealth mission. It was amateurish and completely unacceptable.
And it had to be that girl he attacked.
She didn't like Cassandra. She represented everything she wanted and could not have, the obstacle that kept her and her child away from what should be theirs. She could not be removed lest she draw the ire of one even she could not outmaneuver.
That said, she could respect what the girl was capable of. She knew how to fight, that went without question. She dodged Damian's sword strikes with ease. Then there was her investigation style, so to speak. It was clear she had learned from her Beloved; another reason to not like her as that should have been Damian, not her. Her reasons were commendable as they both had the same agenda.
Damian needed to see this.
"What happened?" she demanded, the two standing on the roof of a building a few blocks away from Wayne Tower. Normally she would try to coax her child to tell her the truth. He was the only person she talked to in such a way. Motherhood had done that. However, she needed to know why he exposed himself in the way he had.
"I thought someone was trying to tamper with the crime scene," the boy finally spat out. He had his arms crossed over his chest, his head turned away so that he didn't look at her.
"Is that your reason?" Talia prodded. When they heard the door open, the two of them had taken to the shadows, using it as cover like they both had been trained. The moment it was revealed who was entering, Damian had deliberately gone for the kill shot. That was not how they had been trained. "What have I been teaching you all of this time?"
"To be a better assassin," he answered automatically.
"That is the method, but not what you have been taught," she countered. "You wanted to become like your father and learn to do what he does. That is your goal, is it not?"
"Of course it is!"
"Then what have I taught you all of this time?"
He didn't answer her and Talia was done prying it out of him. "Patience, Damian, I have been teaching you that and you have clearly failed."
"I only failed in not chopping that usurper's head off," he grumbled.
"You do realize that if this had been a mission for your grandfather, you would be dead now, yes?"
Damian snorted. He clearly didn't believe her.
He needed to be educated then.
"You do know he kills his followers when they fail."
"Of course. Failure cannot be permitted."
"And your father failed him once. He was going to be sentenced to death had I not intervened." Talia leaned towards the boy. "You would not exist had his will been done."
"But he was spared and here we are," he snapped back.
"And you are further away from becoming him than the girl you loathed."
"Because she has stolen my place!" Damian screamed. "I should be wearing that symbol, not her!"
Talia could sympathize; really, she could. "I told you once that one day you would surpass her; I did not mean within a year of your training. What should you have done instead of attacking her?"
"Approach her and stab her in the back with my knife."
The corner of her mouth twitched up. "Certainly. But you have been observing this city, your father, and his allies all of this time. Why did you not observe her? We could have learned much from her own investigation without having to form an alliance."
The boy grunted. It was the closest he would get to acknowledging the point. "What do you suppose I should do with you now?" she questioned him. "Clearly my effort was a waste if tonight was any indication."
"I suppose you should kill me," he answered her. Finally, he looked at her. Out of everything said thus far, he was certain she would not go that far.
"As you wish," she told him as she pulled out her side arm. She pointed it right at him, a look of surprise appearing on his face just before she pulled the trigger.
BANG! The gun went off, gravel from the roof launching up into the air next to his foot. Damian jumped back, acting as if it were a snake about to bite him.
"Damian, I am disappointed in you," Talia said. "The only reason you are alive and unharmed is because you are my child, but do not think I will not punish you for your transgressions. It is my fault, I suppose, that you believe you cannot be touched in such a manner."
Talia closed her eyes for a moment. She needed to consider their options now. There wasn't much she could do with Cassandra running down leads like her Beloved. She needed to go a different path if they were going to get Bruce Wayne out of this mess.
"Who benefits?" That had been a question her Beloved asked her long ago. She had returned from a mission in which a special cargo had been stolen before she could take it. She had just informed her father of the situation when she came across him, before he was called the Detective, before he had won her heart. He must have overheard the conversation when he told her of a paramilitary group.
She had been startled by his suggestion to look into them. Full of arrogance, she demanded to know why he thought they would be involved, and he asked her who would benefit from the taking of that cargo. As it turned out, he had been right.
It was a turning point, one that led to respect and eventually admiration.
And now she was considering those words once again. Who benefited from Bruce Wayne being called a murderer? Any number of his enemies locked in that insane asylum would like him to be locked away like they were, but none of them knew of the connection between Bruce Wayne and Batman. There was the Joker, but he was still missing-in-action following his alleged death at the Monarch Theater. He was certainly capable of staging a scene, but she had her doubts. As far as she knew, the Joker didn't know the identity of her Beloved.
So if one ruled out anyone that did not know of his dual identity, that left those that did. She, of course, did. So did her father, but he was not one to involve himself with her Beloved, not after his departure from Gotham.
And then there was Lex Luthor. At the gala, there had been undercurrents between the two men. She still wasn't certain what was going on between the two men, but it had all the markings of a larger game being played and the two were feeling each other out.
It also brought up someone who wasn't a fan of Bruce Wayne either. Maximilian Shreck had a business deal with Wayne Enterprises, but eventually fell through. Shreck then pivoted and did the deal with Luthor, which led to any other business being cut off between the two.
Two businessmen, both of whom were competitors with Bruce Wayne. Perhaps there was something to look into.
Without Damian.
Tonight had proven he could not be trusted with espionage, not of the scale that she was about to do. If just the sight of Cassandra stripped him of his reason, then he could not handle men with intelligent minds.
So she needed to force him to confront this issue of his.
"It is obvious we need to work on your restraint when it comes to the girl," Talia finally declared. "If you are to become a worthy assassin, you need to confront the emotions that overrule your logic."
"Does that mean I can—" the boy began.
"No," she interrupted. "We have formed a truce for now and you cannot renege on it. We both want to help your father and sometimes we must accept the assistance of those we despise. I suggest you make yourself available to those girls."
Damian frowned. "What do you mean by that?"
"They are undergoing an investigation; surely you can assist them. After all, you did solve the riddle by that Riddler fellow. They can certainly use your intelligence and perspective."
"I don't want to go anywhere—"
"I don't care," Talia snapped. "You must confront what is triggering your irrationality. Exposure to the girl will help you resist that impulse."
"But I don't want to!"
Talia hardened her features. "This is an order. If you do not follow through with it, then your training ends. There will be no second opportunity."
A sullen look appeared on his face before he grunted, "Fine, I'll do it." He eyed her moodily. "And what are you going to do?"
"I will be looking into a few people that would benefit from your father's incarceration. Learn what you can and we will speak of it." Talia holstered her gun before turning to walk away. "Now come along. We have more to do this night."
Slowly, Bluebird drifted out of the small, home office. Batgirl was so focused on her investigation, she doubted she would have seen her leave.
Spoiler nearly stumbling over her two left feet, however…
"What are you doing?" the lavender-clothed girl hissed as they entered the hallway of Wayne Manor. Although it was just a hallway, it was perhaps one of the best decorated ones Bluebird had ever seen. The materials alone stood well above the crappy ones she lived with.
"I don't know how much longer I can do this," the blue-haired girl answered. "You and I both know Batgirl knows her way around this place and we can see she's pretending like she doesn't. Isn't that driving you nuts?"
"A little, I guess?" Spoiler admitted uneasily. "But this is her secret identity, right? Who are we to expose her?"
"How much easier do you think this would be if we were all on the same page?" Bluebird pointed out. "We're literally wasting time pretending everyone doesn't know who the other is. She hasn't said it herself, but Batgirl probably knows all about us too. She didn't spend all that time with Batman and not figure it out."
Spoiler was silent as she contemplated this. That wasn't what Bluebird wanted. This whole thing was exasperating and if it continued like this, she would pop. It was just all so stupid.
It was like the bathroom with Cullin banging on the door all over again.
"I guess it wouldn't hurt?" Spoiler finally answered her. "But maybe not here? Just look at her, she's in the zone. If we bring it up now, it could throw her off and that would really piss her off."
The two girls instinctively peered through the doorway and into the office, spying on Batgirl as she seemed to study a bookcase. Okay, Bluebird could understand that. Perhaps this wasn't the time and place for a big talk. Hell, this was her literal home turf; for all they knew, there were booby traps all over the place. That seemed to be in line with how these Bats thought and acted.
But if not now, then when?
"Okay, so not here," she verbally agreed. "So where exactly? The BatCave?"
"That would be best." Spoiler paused then. "Wait, which one? Ours, or Batman's?"
"Ours, of course," Bluebird scoffed. "I doubt we'd end up in Batman's, not until we earn all of the trust." This time she paused as she glanced around the place. "Do you think it's somewhere around here?"
"You would think, but I doubt it's a room here. This place doesn't seem all that secure."
Bluebird rolled her eyes. "You're thinking about a Man Cave. I'm talking about an actual base of operations. I mean, is it in an actual bat cave? So it wouldn't be in the house."
The two girls stared at each other before they slowly looked in the direction of the backyard. There had been reports of an earthquake out here, one that damaged Wayne Manor. Was it possible that the earthquake had damaged the Batcave? And did that mean it was beneath their feet?
"What are you two doing?"
They jerked their heads back, finding Batgirl standing in the doorway staring at them. "Oh, nothing," Bluebird replied quickly.
"I can see that."
Smart ass. "We weren't seeing anything aside from that safe," Spoiler chimed in. "And since you have more experience doing the investigation thing, we thought we'd get out of your way."
The black-clad girl stared at them before she nodded her acceptance. Bluebird actually felt relief from that. "We're leaving," Batgirl then announced, closing the office door behind her and moved between the two vigilantes, forcing them both to take a step back so that they weren't bumped into.
"Where are we heading, Boss?" Bluebird couldn't help but ask.
"To base," Batgirl answered. "You two head home. It is late and you need rest."
"And you don't?" she shot back, though she was rather impressed her tone wasn't snide at all.
That caused their leader to stop regardless, turn around, and stare at her with that creepy mask of hers. "Do I look like I need sleep?"
That was such a Batman move to do. The turn, the look, the tone, the words, the delivery; it all gave Bluebird shivers. Oh yeah, someone had been taking notes from their mentor. "No, no you don't look like it," she quickly replied. "So I guess this is it for us, right, Spoiler?"
"Yeah…right."
That seemed to satisfy Batgirl as she returned to leaving. Yeah, Spoiler had been right in not bringing up that they knew her identity. This was definitely not the right place or time, and the girl was not in the right frame of mind for such a revelation. However, it was coming soon, sooner than was ideal. No way could they work effectively if they kept secrets from each other.
There was some sort of irony in there, she just wasn't certain where.
"So, do you think he did it?"
Kate looked up, pausing as she was pulling on her costume, leaving her bare from the waist up save for the sports bra she wore. Helena was dressing as well, though she had her armor on. She was currently pulling a glove on, flexing her fingers to adjust the fit.
"Which he?" she asked warily.
"Wayne," the dark-haired woman replied as she picked up her other glove. "The DA is gonna charge him, right?"
"The arraignment is tomorrow," the brunette answered as she slid an arm into one of her sleeves. Now came the awkward part as she tried to do the same with the other arm. The suit was skintight, which made it a little difficult putting it on and taking it off. "We're going with no bail."
"Afraid Wayne will skip town the first chance he gets?"
"He certainly has the resources."
Helena smirked as she began putting on her second glove. "Some secret Swiss bank account or twelve?"
Kate paused as she got her other arm into the sleeve of her suit, adjusting it so that it fit better on her body. Then she zipped it up, sealing herself inside. "We have a few people looking into his assets. For a guy that isn't considered all that bright, he's made it as difficult as possible to trace his money."
"Pretty certain Daddy Wayne, or Great-Great Granddaddy Wayne did that," the dark-haired woman responded. "He's just taking advantage of their system."
"Maybe," she absently agreed. From what she was hearing from her colleagues though, they were pulling their hair out of their heads. Wayne's finances were a labyrinth of red tape; it was one step away from being an SEC investigation. Yet, there was nothing outwardly illegal about it. Quite a bit of it was tied into Wayne Enterprises, which was no surprise, but that was when the fun began.
And you could bet Wayne Enterprises was resisting their attempt to look into their books.
"I'm not on the case, though I'll most likely do some work on it at some point," Kate then said, sitting down so that she could begin putting on her boots. "The DA wants him bad, so a lot of work is going into this."
"What are you working on then?" Dinah asked from her corner of the room.
"I'm keeping tabs on a number of kidnappings. Latest one was Jeff Daniels."
"No idea who he is," Helena grunted as she began to place her mask on her face, becoming Huntress.
That was a surprise considering she had a bunch of family in and out of prison. "He's part of the parole board."
"Where was he picked up?" Dinah questioned. "Doesn't sound like he would have been picked up right off the street."
Kate had to think about that for a moment. She had just started work on the case, keeping tabs on it for her office so they would be ready to act. "I think he was picked up at his office. The parole office shows him leaving the building, but his car was still in their parking lot."
"He was picked up right in front of the building?"
The brunette shook her head. "Their parking lot is a back lot. It has a little lighting and a fence, but otherwise little security."
"That's pretty ballsy," Huntress remarked as she picked up and clipped her utility belt into place around her waist.
"You said there were a number of kidnappings," Katana pointed out. Out of all of them, she was already ready, sitting on a stool as she leaned forward, her hands gripping onto the sheath of her sword. "Who else has gone missing?"
Kate rolled her eyes to look to the ceiling, thinking of the names she saw this morning. "A defense attorney, a liaison to Blackgate, a—"
"Hold on," Huntress interrupted. "That's three people in law."
"You noticed," she replied drily.
"And Law Enforcement isn't jumping down someone's throat?"
"They kinda have their hands full with Wayne."
"If they're busy, then perhaps we can look into it?" Katana offered.
It wouldn't hurt. Plus, it would give her some work to do while the office was trying to pin Wayne's ass to the wall. As she nodded her agreement, Dinah had reached a hand to the comm link she had in her ear. "Hey, Oracle, got a job for you."
It was a few seconds before she continued. "There's been a number of kidnappings lately. Thought you could look up some details on them all." Another pause. "What are the names?" the blonde asked Kate.
"Jeff Daniels; Erick Pense, Erick with a C and K; Donna Grier—"
Huntress snapped her head towards her. "Donna Grier?" she repeated. "She's represented some of my cousins."
Now that wasn't a surprise. Grier was a prominent defense lawyer, the one that had a client disappear before she herself went missing. "Shall I go on, or is that enough?" Kate inquired.
"Need more, O?" Dinah extended the question to the hacker. "Sounds like she's going to limit her search to law and politics."
Because there was a kidnapping every few hours, or something like that. At least with the names provided, there was some sort of commonality, if not a link between them. That link was still hard to tell, however.
But at least she would be able to make some headway with whatever Oracle found. That would make her job easier.
